Mass & Energy One
by Empeorie
Summary: From the writer of "So you're in a self insert?" Five adults, thrown into the world of Mass Effect. They must become merc's to pay the bills. But can they change the future? Will people review this? And where can they get a decent cup of tea here?
1. Chapter 1

_**Mass & Energy one**_

_**Chapter one: Stuck in a elevator**_

* * *

><p>Death. That's usually how people seem to enter fictional universes. Perhaps they were in a car accident, maybe they got electrocuted whilst playing on a Xbox or perhaps they were playing a song on a piano. I wish we had a excuse nearly as dramatic as that. Instead, our journey started on my first day at work. The year, was 2013...<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Jessica's POV<strong>_

_**May 12**__**th**__** 2013**_

"Told you I could get you the job." Said Alex with a clear smirk as we rode the elevator towards the 18th floor of the offices where I just recently started to work.

"I never said you couldn't use your position to swing me a job here, I said you shouldn't." I replied.

"Well then Just imagine the only reason they hired you was your rather cheap suit, your insistence that that French perfume you bought was worth it and your lovely manners." Snarked Alex. Alex was one of my oldest friends. Son of the Oil tycoon David Dawson, their genetics seemed to be the only link the two had. Alex had a Full head of brown curly hair, brown eyes and a accent so posh you would expect he gave etiquette lessons to the queen of England.

"Does Frank work on this floor?" I asked. Frank was a mutual friend of ours, an American in England, which, whilst odd, would give the necessary audience a character they could relate to. He was a lawyer, one of the best I knew.

"Afraid not, he works on floor twelve, but I'm sure you can meet up with him for lunch." Replied Alex. The elevator came to a stop.

"If you need me I will be back home, relaxing in the pool." Said Alex.

"And I will be working on earning the company some money, rather then wasting it!" I shouted as Alex pressed the button for the ground floor, attempting to leave before I could trade a insult.

"Well your a!" Shouted Alex. The doors closed on him before he could finish, sending him away.

"Time for work then." I muttered to myself.

.

"Hey Jesse, just came up to check on you." Said Frank as he leaned on my cubicle. He was a short man, with straight blond hair and blue eyes. He had a out of place American accent, which made him stand out from the tonnes of British people.

"Oh I'm fine. Hey are we going to play Mass Effect multi-player later?" I asked. This was a favourite hobby of ours. Every Thursday we would get our asses onto Xbox live at try our abilities on a gold level. Of course there were five of us, but Scott never ever played. I'll get onto him later.

"Sure. Hey you are going to play infiltrator this time right? You're awful at solider." Asked Frank.

"Nah. I am all up in the sneaky sneaky tonight." I replied.

"Well that's great. Hey I've got to get back to work, but I'll see you tonight." Said Frank.

"Okay, see you." I said as I wave to him.

.

"Atlas!" Shouted Alex. He was playing as a vanguard, our only biotic. Whilst good at anti-infantry, he was shit at anything mechanical. Only Turrets and those giant mechs could cause him any real damage.

"On it!" Shouted Frank. He was an engineer, fully capable of wearing down a atlas in a few seconds.

He fired a overload at the Mech. Waited in cover for a few seconds, then launched a powerful incinerate. The mech was reduced to ¾ health.

I pulled the left trigger. The scope of my sniper rifle rested briefly on the cockpit. Then I pulled the right trigger, the scope lift and the virtual bullet slammed into the cockpit of the mech. It was reduced to half health.

"Once more unto the breach!" Shouted Alex down the mic. He launch a biotic charge at the Mech, doing very little damge. He then sacrificed his own barriers in order to power his powerful nova, sending a sphere of biotic energy, stunning the mech.

An engineer marched round the corner. I noticed him as I fired another shot into the mech. I reloaded as quickly as possible, but it was too little too late. The engineer had set up a turret before Alex could regain his barrier.

"Oh bollocks." Muttered Alex. In less then 3 seconds he was torn apart by the powerful turret. Then, noticing the now dying player lying on the floor, the mech stomped on the body.

"Come on!" Shouted Alex. "They said the last update balanced that!"

I looked briefly outside of the window of my apartment. The previously grey clouds had turned a savage black. A flash of light lit up the room... A few seconds later a rumble drowned out the noise of my TV.

"Hey guys we better turn off the X-box. Don't want it to get electrocuted." I suggested.

"Fine, I'm dead any way." Said Alex, he then left the game and the party.

There was a knock on my apartment door.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Elizabeth, could you open the door?" She asked. I walked towards the wooden door of my apartment and let in a blond haired Scottish girl. She was my room-mate and a old friend of mine.

"Didn't you have your key?" I asked.

"No I must have left it in the Scott's car." She replied.

"Damn. What the heck were you doing out there in this weather?" I asked.

"I got ourselves some Chinese." She said holding up two plastic bags.

"Since when could we afford Chinese food?" I asked.

"Well, since you started your new job perhaps I thought I would get ourselves a treat." Elizabeth replied.

"Please warn me when you are going to do that, I'm not paid till the end of the month." I said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Alex will give us some cash..." She said.

"We don't need any handouts from our own friends Elizabeth." I said.

"Whatever." She said. "Any way, you still up for tomorrow?" She asked.

"The heck are you talking about?" I asked.

"We are teaching you to drive with Frank's car. Lass, we have been over this like thirty times." Replied Elizabeth.

"Oh come on. You guys can take me almost anyway I need to go!" I shouted.

"None of us want to drive you to that Old peoples home Jesse. It's creepy as hell." Said Elizabeth.

"Oh come on. You would want to see your parents if they were that old." I said.

"Look, any way. You're coming whether you like it or not. Now, I got your favourite, sweet and sour chicken." She said..

* * *

><p><em><strong>The very next day<strong>_

_**3:00pm**_

_**.**_

"_Ding dong."_ Rang the doorbell.

"Come on!" I shouted.

"Hey Jesse, Elizabeth you coming to?" Asked Frank as he walked in leaving on his coat.

"Sure, hang on." She said walking towards the hall, placing her fur coat she managed to coax Alex into buying for her.

"Do we really need to do this?" I asked sceptically.

"Come on. Think of it as being able to go places on your own." Said Frank. _Perhaps I don't want to do certain things alone._

"Fine." I muttered.

I walked out into the hallway of the apartment block. I then walked down the stairs with Frank and Jesse until we got out into the rainy Saturday Afternoon.

Parked outside waiting for us was The Ford focus.

"Hey, isn't that Scott's car?" Asked Elizabeth.

"Yeah, he leant it to us for this lesson." Replied Frank as he got into the leather interior of the car.

"Right, so do we have to pick them up?" I asked.

"Yeah. Alex first, then Scott." Explained Frank.

.

We walked into Alex's gym. It was a large wooden building at the edge of his complex. The roof was shorter then most, and along the side were various swords for fencing.

"I see you prefer the sabre!" Shouted Alex at his fencing instructor as he lunged towards him.

"Don't try the witty dialogue, you fight like a dairy farmer." Said an instructor as he parried his attack. _Dairy farmer, only one thing could happen next._

"How appropriate, you fight like a under paid milk maid." Said Alex. _Well never mind, didn't expect that._

"That was awful." Said Alex's Instructor stunned by the awfulness of the retort.

"I know." Said Alex as he took a lunge at the instructor's chest. His sabre connected with the chest, gaining the point. "Do whatever it takes to win my friend."

"Perhaps one day I will remember that sir." Said the instructor. "I'll teach that to my students then."

"Anytim..Hey guys, how are you!" Shouted Alex he said as he removed his helmet. "What are you here for?"

"We're helping Jesse to learn to drive remember." Said Elizabeth as we walked towards him.

"Oh, well I think I know the perfect place." Said Alex. "It's in a excellent down-town location."

"Not there, we waited for when the test was about to begin before we went there." Said Frank.

"Where?" I asked.

"No, not there, she isn't ready!" Shouted Frank.

"She will learn." Said Alex.

"Where the hell are you talking about!" I shouted. Alex took off his armour and sprayed on some deodorant quickly.

"I'll explain on route. Let's pick up Scott." Said Alex.

.

.

"You talking about driving on the inside of a skyscraper!" I shouted shocked at Alex.

"Precisely. Only the best can do it. I think you've got what it takes." He said.

"But this is my first lesson! How on earth am I going to drive inside a office block!" I shouted.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. It's on the abandoned 13th floor." Alex Explained.

"I think you're crazy for suggesting it Alex." Said Elizabeth.

"Well I guess you're right." Replied Alex.

Frank drove the car into a driveway of a bungalow. Out of all of us Scott was the one with the nicest house that he actually paid for. We had no idea how he got it but the bungalow was our second favourite place to hang out. After Alex's pool when the weather wasn't typically British.

A large man came to the door. He was 6ft 7, had a military style buzz-cut and muscles everywhere. He was our big man, working as a teacher by day and a bouncer Friday and Saturday nights. He spoke with a soft Irish accent and, despite his enormous size, was the kindest and calmest man I had ever met.

"I guess we are taking her out for a lesson then?" He asked as he came towards his car.

"Yes we are. At the office." Replied Alex from the backseet.

"Well shit, you think she's ready? Because I don't want a repeat of last time we drove inside that place." Said Scott.

"Oh it will be fine. This time the windows have been probably boarded up." Replied Alex.

Scott open the door and sat down next to Elizabeth on the right hand side. He was banned from sitting in the middle because he kept blocking the rear view mirror. _Poor bastard. _

"So, let's swing by there, grab a few drinks at McClaren's and drive on home." Suggested Alex.

"Bagsy not it!" Shouted Everyone but Jesse and Alex.

"God dammit. I hope you learn quickly Jessica or I will be stuck as the designated driver." Moaned Alex.

"Come on. Let's go." Said Frank. He placed a CD into the CD player Titled "Road Trip."

Next the song "I've got two tickets to paradise" Came on. At this moment we all remember the eventful night in Cardiff 4 years ago.

"Oh shit I remember this!" I shouted.

"Pack your bags we leave tonight!" We all sang rather out of tune. "I've got two... Tickets to paradise!"

And with that absolutely awful chorus we drove towards the down-town district.

.

.

We entered a dark underground car park. At 5pm on a Saturday it was almost empty, accept for one rather large van and a single jaguar.

"Why don't we just drive round here." I suggested nervously. "Driving inside a skyscraper is a little crazy."

"No." Said Alex. "Scott help me with the service elevator."

"Sure thing Alex." He said as both him and Alex got out of the back doors. They walked through the dimly lit car park towards a rather rusty metal box.

"Do we really have to do this?" I asked.

"Look Jessica, if you don't want to you don't have to. But we can't drive you everyway. We aren't going to stick around forever you know." Said Frank.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Frank gave a nervous look at Elizabeth.

"Look, Jesse... We've been thinking, the job market here is really shit. And I haven't found a decent paying mechanic job in about 8 months." Said Elizabeth.

"Just ask Alex for a job, he hands them out like candy." I suggested.

"Jessica... Don't tell me you haven't seen what happening to him." Said Elizabeth, talking in almost a whisper.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Jesse... He's got..." Said Elizabeth. She was about to finish her sentence when all of a sudden Scott and Alex returned from the lift.

"We opened it. You can drive on through now." Said Scott.

"Right, I'll ease the car in, but once we get to the thirteen floor it's all yours." Said Frank to me. I gulped.

The car edge forwards, slowly driving towards the service elevator slapped bang in the middle of the parking lot. Now that I could get a decent look into it I could see it was fairly typical. It was open at the sides, meaning that you could see the walls of the elevator shaft. Not that you would've wanted to, they were covered in muck and graffiti. _I wonder how on earth they got here? Whoever put them there must've had balls of steel. Or not a lot to do on a Saturday evening. Just like us._

Perhaps in hindsight I should have looked more closely at the Elevator's exterior. But I'll get onto that later.

"So what we're you guys talking about?" Asked Alex.

"Oh just about the lesson you're going to give me." I replied. The elevator started to go up.

"Well I hope this helps. It's another thing for your bucket list." Said Alex.

"Oh I don't have bucket list yet." I replied.

"Well. If you had one, it's rather important. I'm telling you, after seeing the Aurora Borealis last year all I have left is bunch Brian Cox and..." Alex started to tear up. He noticed we were looking at him and retracted what he was going to say. "Did I mention punching Brian Cox?"

"Yes. I don't know what you have against him. He's a respected physicist." Said Elizabeth.

"Oh of course you would say that, you haven't "Enjoyed" the pleasure of his company." Said Alex.

"Well I would put down kissing Benedict Cumberbatch. That man is as fit as hell." Said Elizabeth.

"He is awesome, but I'm no John Watson." Said Alex.

"That show is really trying to be subtle about there clear relationship isn't it." Said Frank.

"I expect a wedding invitation from them any day now." Said Scott sarcastically. We laughed.

"Speaking of marriages who's the special person in your life?" Asked Frank to Scott.

"No-one." Said Scott perhaps a little too fast.

"Oh come on boyo!" Said Elizabeth. "That clearly means you do!"

"There really is no option to skip this conversation is there?" He asked.

"No. Not really." I replied.

"Damn." He muttered.

I look out of the car. The White polished walls of the elevator shaft seemed to stretch on for ages. Not to mention the elevator was going really quite slowly.

"What about you guys?" Asked Scott clearly trying to dodge the question. "When was the last time any of you got some action?"

"This is quite a awkward conversation Scott." Said Alex.

"Oh, so now it's awkward? Course I already now the answer to the question for you, 25 years." Joked Scott.

"Hey!" Shouted Alex.

Frank laughed and looked out of the window of the car.

"Alex?" He asked sounding confused.

"Yeah?" Replied Alex.

"Isn't the elevator in this building one of the fastest in the world?" He asked.

"This service elevator can reach speeds of about 80 miles an hour, even whilst carrying something this big. Why?" Replied Alex.

"Because we are going really, REALLY slow." Explained Frank.

"...The walls in here aren't metal? Nor White?" Muttered Alex.

"What the heck?" Asked Frank.

"It's probably nothing. Where does the buttons show we are?" Asked Alex.

"Eh..." He said staring at the various buttons on the side of the lift. "None of them are lit up." He replied.

"Okay, activate the open door alarm and we'll get off at the next floor. It's nothing to worry about." Said Alex trying to convince us. He didn't seem so sure.

Frank leaned out of the car and pressed the open door button. After a few more feet the elevator came to a stop. After three seconds the doors opened.

Frank edged the car forwards. We came into a metallic hallway, light up by a dim blue light. The hallway stretched for several hundred meters, at the end of it was a double door, probably large enough to drive the car out of it.

"What the fuck? This is not part of the building." Said Frank.

Alex stepped out of the car. He looked to the floor. The were squeaky clean, as if no one had ever walked here. And yet the had clearly been recently cleaned. He signalled for the rest of us to get out the car. We walked down the hallway. After a hundred or so meters we opened the doors and looked out into the open air.

"Oh my god." Muttered Scott.

The doors lead onto a single street, but this was not the surprising thing. Above them there were Massive Skyscrapers that pierced the darkness of space itself. Which lead onto the next part, the massive purple nebula above, glistening across the sky. What could only be described as flying cars darted across the sky. Around us creatures and people intermingled. Walking to places unknown to us.

"Where the fuck are we?" Asked Scott.

We knew. Perhaps it was the masked short fat creatures, or the abundance of the colour blue. But somehow, we know where we were and what we were dealing with.

"Mass Effect." I muttered.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Welcome to the new re-release of <strong>_ _**Mass & Energy. The plot will change and certain things that weren't seen are now being detailed in full. Changes include a change to past first person, better character development for the start and removal of the metaphysics. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review. **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Mass & Energy One**_

_**Chapter Two- Culture shock chapter**_

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><p><em><strong>Alexander's POV<strong>_

_**.**_

"Well shit. Clearly we've smoked something." Muttered Frank.

"Well it's probably easy enough to deal with. Let's head back to the elevator." I said.

We all backed up towards the double doors. I kicked the doors open. Or at least I tried.

"Shit. They must've lock up behind us." Said Elizabeth.

I pulled open the doors as hard as I could. They still refused to open.

"Our fucking car is in there! What are we going to do?" Asked Scott.

_Hang on a second. This is Mass Effect right? All we need is some omni gel and to press a few random buttons and hey presto, door's unlocked._

"Guys. We need some money." I said with resolve.

"How the hell are we going to do that?" Asked Scott.

"Hmm. In theory there we could sell our 21st century clothes for some money." Suggested Jesse.

"Yeah, but most of us are wearing rather casual clothes." Said Frank. "They aren't going to be worth much."

"No she's right. They're vintage and near mint condition. It's just smart enough to work." I said.

"All right, but what clothes do we wear whilst we sell them?" Asked Scott.

"Ah it would be easier to not bother." I said. "Let's just do this quickly."

"We just walk around naked? Are you insane!" Shouted Elizabeth.

"I wont sell my underpants if that is what you mean." I said.

"But...Public decency laws." Said Frank.

"Ah this is probably a hallucination any way." I said.

"You know what. It's the only plan we have, let's find a tourist information desk then." Said Frank.

We walked down the crowded streets of the Citadel. I had no idea which ward we were on or where the nearest tourist information desk even is. _Try following the people in Hawaiian shirts. Nah that only works in Hawaii._

We walked aimlessly for several minutes until we happened upon a holographic map. The map showed we were in the Kithoi Ward, more importantly, a plaza named Edorki. I had never been here in game.

"Well let's see where...Ah shit." I muttered. There was one thing we had failed to take into account. We did not have any kind of translator. We couldn't read or hear a single Alien language.

"Click col jol ik?" Asked a friendly Turian to us. We turned around.

"Do you think he can understand a single word we are saying?" I asked.

"Vol clo kli cuk." Said the Turian whilst nodding his head.

"Ah crap. Could you point towards the tourist information desk?" I asked.

"Vo livk xi." Said the Turian. He pointed over in the distance and held up 3 fingers and made two zeros with his hands. _300 metres? Probably._

"Thank you." I said with a nod and I signalled to the others to follow me.

* * *

><p>"Excuse me?" Frank asked to the human Tourist information desk.<p>

"Yes?" She replied.

"Hey, where is the nearest Antique store?" He asked.

She looked us up and down and realised the clothes we were wearing.

"Yes. You look like you escaped from there." She mumbled. "Right, take a right turn at the end of the alley here, keep walking till you get to a indoor market place. From there go on through till you find a store called "Treasures of old." You can't miss it."

"Thank you very much. Hey where can we get some translators?" I asked.

"Alex, we aren't staying here we won't need them." Frank whispered. _No. I've read Self Inserts and I know that we don't go back yet. And if this is some kind of accidental drug trip then it won't matter._

"Fine. Thanks for the help." I said with a wave.

We walked down the dark alley. It was lit up by several overhead lights, all coloured red. We continued to walk. As we reached the end we took a right turn. Without looking we bumped into someone.

"Watch where you are going!" Shouted the man. He was wearing a futuristic suit with a large colour and had dark black hair.

"Sorry." I said.

"You bleeding Lymneys." He said as he stomped off. I looked back as he walked away. _Where have I seen that man before?_

"You coming Alex?" Asked Jesse, who was already some way down the far better kept street that was lined with small shops.

"sure." I said as I ran to catch up.

After roughly 5 minutes we made it to the indoor market place. It didn't take us long to find the sole wooden building in the market. At least, I assumed it was wooden.

We opened the shop door. A bell rang and out of the back of the shop came a small fat man, who could've been mistaken for a Volus.

"Welcome to Treasures of Old. You have come to the right place you fashionable people." Said the shop keeper.

I took of my suit jacket. It was a Italian tailored design, worth in excess of £5000 back home.

"What would you pay for this fine Italian, genuine 21st century make?" I asked.

"Is it hot?" He asked.

"Hot?" I replied unsure of what he meant.

"Hot? You know, swiped? Collected? Acquired?" He said. He looked to my face and saw I had no idea what he was talking about. "Stolen?"

"Great Scott! Of course not! This is my great grandfathers jacket. It's been in the family for 6 generations!" I shouted.

"All right calm down!" He said. He took the Jacket from my hands and began to examine it thoroughly. "20,000."

"70,000." I replied. _This fat bastard is not playing me for a fool._

"70,000! You want to bankrupt me! 25,000." He said.

"60,000." I replied as stoically as I could.

"35,000. Final offer, you're killing me here." He said.

"45,000." I replied. "That is the final offer."

He contemplated this for a few seconds.

"Fuck off mate." He replied. _Well that went well._

"Fine 35,000." I mumbled.

"Fuck that shit, your wasting my time." He said.

"Okay okay! 30,000." I shouted.

"Deal." He said a little too quickly. _He's clearly making a better deal out of this then I am, but I've got no choice._

I handed over my suit jacket. He passed me a Credit Chit. I stored it in my trouser pocket.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Said the Shopkeeper sarcastically.

We walked out of the store into the air of the Citadel. About a hundred people were there.

"Right, let's find a tech store." Said Frank.

We looked around. Some of the stores were in strange letters and characters I didn't understand. Others were signalled with only drawings. After about ten minutes we found a store named "Omni-disciplinary Omni-tools."

We walked in.

"How much for the cheapest Omni-tool and some Omni-gel?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. What?" Asked the Young female shopkeeper.

"Please?" I asked. "Your cheapest stuff."

She went into the back of the store. I looked around. The store was filled with microchips, holographic screens and strange jars of liquid, which I assumed was Omni-Gel.

"Here." She said carrying a ancient looking microchip and two jars of Omni-Gel.

"Thank you. And how much is that?" I asked.

"500 credits." She replied.

"Here." I said as I passed my credit chit. I watched in interest as she activated a holo terminal. She pressed a button on the Chit. It lit up in a holographic orange light. After a few seconds she passed it back.

"Thank you." She said as she returned my chit.

"Right guys, let's find that service tunnel." I shouted.

.

After two hours of trying to remember where the heck we parked we headed back to the service tunnel.

"Okay." I said as I attached the omni-tool to my arm. "Let's try this."

I applied the Omni-Gel to the door. I then pressed the on button on my Omni-Tool. Then four buttons appeared on the tool. Red, blue, yellow and green.

_...It's actually the X-box controls? Huh. And I thought the hacking mini game was dumb on there._

First the red button activated first, then green, then yellow. I repeated this code with ease. With a resounding click the door opened.

"Huh. Nice." Said Jesse as the door slide open. In front of us was Scott's Ford Focus. _Still don't know why we didn't take my Bentley? Oh well._

We walked towards the car and got back in.

"Well, this crazy dream will soon be over." Said Frank as he got into the front seat of the car.

"Hey, if this is real perhaps we can return to it." Said Jesse.

"This isn't real, don't be ridiculous. We will wake up back in the car, Alex's jacket will be in the car and it'll be all fine." Said Frank.

Frank backed the car into the still open lift. I hopped out of the passenger seat and shut the rusted wire door.

I pressed the "B" button on the lift.

* * *

><p>Nothing happened.<p>

_Well shit. Looks like we really are in a fucking Self insert._

"Press it again." Suggested Scott.

And so I did. Hoping that something would change.

Once again the lift failed to move.

_You know what they say about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting things to change._

"Shut up you." I mumbled.

"This can't be happening." Muttered Scott.

"No. I can't be stuck here! My parents!" Shouted Jesse.

"Calm down. There is usually a way out of this. Ever seen Life on Mars?" Asked Frank.

"This is just bloody brilliant." Mumbled Elizabeth.

"All right. Everyone calm down. It seems that we have to wait for whatever drug we've inhaled to leave our system. Whilst we do that we should get some place to sleep." I suggested.

"But we'd need to read that map again." Said Jesse.

"Then I've got a brain implant to get." I said.

_It'd make a change to what's in there at the moment._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Three hours later and a trip to a doctors office later<strong>_

_**.**_

"Anyone else's head really hurt?" I asked whilst clutching my head.

"That injection fucking killed." Said Elizabeth.

"Shall we test it?" Asked Frank.

"Bonjour." Said Scott. _I heard Hello._

"Did you say hello or not?" I asked.

"I said hello in French." Scott Replied.

"Well looks like they work. Excuse me there!" I shouted at a nearby Asari.

"Yes?" She asked clearly puzzled at my appearance.

"Where is the nearest hotel?" I asked.

"You see, you take a left turn up down there, then you go straight up your arse." Said the Asari before walking away.

"Well that's just rude." I said. "Although I guess this means they work."

"Maybe I should ask for directions?" Suggested Scott.

"Go ahead, be my guest." I said as I gestured.

Scott turned to a nearby human. He was about 17 years old.

"Excuse me, what's your name?" I asked.

"Lucas Raycevich." Replied the teenager with a Canadian accent. Scott paused for a second there.

"Right. Let's just call you Lucas. Do you know where the nearest hotel is?" Asked Scott.

The kid turned around. Behind him were several other teenagers waiting for him.

"Sorry, I'm new here too." Said Lucas. "Well technically you could say that." He muttered.

"Oh well, thanks anyway!" Shouted Scott as the kid ran towards his group of friends.

"Any idea what that was about?" I asked.

"No idea." Muttered Scott.

"You know what, let's find a taxi or something and let's ask them." I suggested.

"What about the car?" Asked Jesse.

"...Jesus Christ. All right. I've had another brilliant idea." I said tiredly.

"What?" Asked Jesse.

"We find a auto dealership and sell the fucking thing." I said.

"As long as we don't run into anyone named Ian we will be fine." I said.

"Why no one called Ian?" Asked Scott.

"Because that kid seems to be everywhere now a days." I mumbled. "Let's go."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Several more hours later<strong>_

"Only 500,000 credits!" I shouted. "This is a car from fucking 2008! It's older then you or me!"

"Yeah, and you guys don't have any ID it's clear you people have stolen it. So, I'm offering 20% of the price." Said the Auto dealership salesman.

"750,000 or no sale." I shout.

"600,000." Said the auto dealer. _Twice in one fucking day. How many times am I going to have to haggle about these kinds of things._

"Deal." Said Scott. _Are you fucking insane! That's only like £100000! _

"Excellent." Said the auto-dealer. "Let's head into my office." He said to Scott as he lead him into a dark room at the back of the store.

It was impossible to tell by the light levels, but by my guess it was getting close to midnight and we had still found nowhere to sleep.

"Well this is bad." I mumbled as we walked out of the store and sat down on the steps outside.

"Yeah. I always thought that this kind of thing would be fun." Said Frank sadly.

A Hovervan drove past.

"Well I guess you can't have everything." I muttered.

"We have to try going back." Said Elizabeth. "I'm not sure I like being here."

"We'll try again and leave tomorrow." I said.

The same hovervan drove overhead again.

"Hey look, all of the above sentences start with "We". Isn't that odd." Said Jesse absent-mindedly. _Oh fuck._

"I think we may have left her pills in the Ford." I said.

"Do you think you can get them?" Asked Frank.

"Sure." I said. I stood up. _Perhaps her fourth wall breaking actually makes sense now._

I walked into the car dealership again. The Ford was just sat there. I opened the front door and searched in the glove compartment. _Chocolate...Some manuals...A pair of gloves (In a Glove compartment? Shock horror!)...Finally._

I withdrew a bottle of pills from the compartment and shut it. I then turned around and began to walk back to the guys.

"Got the pills!" I shouted as I continued to walk.

"Cheers." Replied Frank. I threw the bottle into his hands.

"Jesse? It's time for your medication." Said Frank In as soothing voice as he could possibly manage.

"Okay Frank. Whatever you say." Replied Jesse. As Frank passed her both the pills and the water bottle she took a single pill and ingested it.

"Do you think we'll be able to get any more pills here?" Asked Frank worried.

"I'm not sure. We don't have any kind of ID nor much money yet." I replied.

"So what your saying is after this we need to make a false identity?" Asked Elizabeth.

"Yeah, we may also need a few shots." I replied. "Any injections we have at the moment are going to be horrendously out of date."

"Yeah, they probably have some kind of super cold now." Said Jesse.

"Guys, here's the credit Chit." Said Scott carrying a small microchip. _That make two, one with 29,500 on it and one with 600,000._

"Pass me that. I've got an idea of where we can make a false identity." I said.

"Where?" Asked everyone.

"Chora's Den. Let's grab a taxi." I replied.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Two hours later<strong>_

_**Lower Wards.**_

**.**

_You know what, I'm not even sure what year it is. Perhaps it's after the reaper invasion? Doubt it. How often does that happen in a SI._

We walked through the lower Markets. He were surrounded by various exotic and probably illegal products. Traders were shouting trying to get our attention. Surely in our 21st we looked quite a bit rich. _At least we haven't been mugged._

We walked out of the markets into a large hall. It stretched in a circle for possibly miles. We followed the familiar path to Chora's Den. Try enough outside of it was a Krogan bouncer.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"I need to see Fist." I replied.

"Who might you be?" He asked.

"Nobody yet. That's why we need to see Fist." I replied.

The krogan stared at us for a few seconds, trying to sum us up. "Head on in."

"Cheers." Said Frank as we walked into the establishment.

I was hit by the smell of cheep perfume, alcohol and piss. There was the constant noise of drunken chatter. We walked towards Fist's office and knocked on the door that led to the storage area.

"Who is it?" Asked a bold man as he opened the door.

"We need to talk to Fist." I replied.

"You cops?" Replied the bold man.

"No." Said Jesse.

The bold man stepped to the side.

"Just walk on through." Beckoned the man.

So we did. We walked through a corridor lined with crates and lockers, likely filled with illegal contraband. Soon we reached the end of the hallway. We pressed the button on the door and it opened.

"Who the fuck are you people?" Asked a short man. _Fist. _He had short black hair and the smell of someone who hadn't taken a shower for two days.

"No one." I said, repeating the line I used on the krogan. "Which is why we need your help."

"Oh really? False identity's huh?" Asked Fist. "Why not just sign up with the alliance, as long as you were born to a..."

"Yeah, we haven't existed yet at all. Besides, Illegal is always quicker." I said.

"Very true. All right, I assume all five of you want false identity's?" Asked Fist.

"Yes." Replied Elizabeth.

"Okay, that'll be 50,000 credits." Replied Fist. _Shit, we are burning through money fast._

"Fine." I replied.

Fist got five data-pads out of his main desk at sat back in the chair.

"Why don't you tell me about yourselves? The tall Lymey first." Said Fist. _Bit rascist._

"Okay. Uh.. Full names Alexander Julian Dawson. Date of birth is... What year is it?" I asked.

"You serious?" Asked Fist.

"Deadly." I replied.

"2180." Replied Fist. _Hey that's... 3 years before Mass Effect. Not bad. Still, we aren't staying here for that long._

"Right, I'm just turned 23 so that makes me... born on November 22nd 2157." I said.

"All right, where were you "Born"." Said Fist making sarcastic quotation marks with his fingers.

I thought this over for a few seconds. _Don't say Earth, then they'll ask how I got off that fucking Rock. Hmm... Eden Prime? Maybe. Or Mindior. _

"Eden Prime." I said.

"Okay. Next!" Shouted Fist.

"That's all you need?" I asked. "You don't need qualifications or anything?"

"Qualifications costs extra. Next!" He shouted again.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thirty minutes later.<strong>_

"Well. Now we are citizens of the alliance I suppose." I said.

"Well I'm sure picking Eden Prime as our home world won't ever come back to bit us." Said Elizabeth.

"No it won't. I'm sure it will get us a sympathy vote should we make it to Mass Effect one." I replied.

"We aren't staying here Alex. We'll go as soon as we find someone to fix that elevator." Said Frank.

"I hope your right." I replied.

We walked out of Chora's Den. The stench had stayed in there. _I'll probably still need a shower though._

"Guys. How do you know so much about here? Is this some kind of TV show or something?" Asked Scott. _Oh fuck. I forgot that fact. Scott's never played on Mass Effect. Hell, other then Halo I'm sure he's never played any video game._

"You guys explain, I'm going to hail a taxi." I said.

I walked up towards the hover car terminal.

_Right, so we are here. _I thought pointing to Chora's Den.

_And we need to go back to... any nearby hotel. _I searched on them map for any kind of hotel. True enough, there was one about 2 miles from here that is called "The Rim of the Sky." _Guess I am calling it Skyrim. _

The hairs on my neck stuck up. _Someone is behind me._

"Handover your money arsehole or I'll stab you in the gut." Said a strange voice. I raised my hands in my air. Then I slowly turned around.

Then I looked down.

"Handover your money Now!" Shouted the Volus.

"Volus? I expected Batarian or maybe krogan. But Volus?" I said.

"Oh. What, volus's can't be criminals?" Asked the volus sounding offended.

"No no no, just, you know... You wouldn't expect it." I said. "I'm not sure you're even tall enough to stab me in the gut."

"You know what, I am not taking your crap." Said the Volus. In one swift movement the Volus stabbed me in the foot. The pain was excruciating.

"Shit!" I screamed. Then the Volus dragged the blade out of my foot and slashed me across the gut. I fell to the floor in pain.

"That's what you get you rascist!" Shouted the Volus before he made a run for it, luckily not taking the credit chits in my pocket.

I led there, bleeding onto the floor. I was feeling myself slip into unconsciousness.

"Guys Help!" I shouted.

Then my vision turned black...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well that's the end of that chapter, hoped you enjoying this so far. In the unlikely case you haven't go and check out "So you're in a self insert 2? Electric bogaloo." Funny and has tips from the masters of SI's like Herr Wozzeck and iNf3ctioNZ.<strong>_

_**See ya.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Mass & Energy One**_

_**Chapter three- Hospitalised**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Scott's POV<strong>_

_**3 hours later**_

_**.**_

_God I am tired. Honestly I think I've been awake for about 30 hours now. _I was in a hospital room with the others. Alex was asleep on the bed. A alien doctor walked in the room.

"How is he Doc?" I asked to the Turian Doctor. _At least I think that's what they are called._

"He's in a stable condition, but there are some thing you may wish to know about what we found." Said the Doctor.

_Ah. I think I know he is talking about._

"Your friend here has a eezo tumour the size of a eye slap bang in his cerebral cortex." Said the Doc. _What the heck is eezo?_

"Eezo? What's that?" I asked.

"You know? Element zero." Replied the doctor.

"Not helpful." I replied. The doctor gave me an odd look.

"The element that makes Mass Effect possible?" Said the doctor with a confused look.

"Doc. Are you saying that Alex has been affected by element zero?" Asked Jesse, who has a much better grasp of this kind of thing.

"Precisely. My guess it would have had to have been there since birth." Said the Doctor.

"Wouldn't that make him a biotic?" Asked Frank.

"Did he never have a medical exam with the alliance?" Asked the doctor.

"Trust me, where we came from I wouldn't have thought eezo poisoning was possible." Said Elizabeth.

"I'll need to discuss this with him when he wakes up." Said the turian. And with that he left the room.

There was a few minutes of awkward silence. Then...

"I can't believe this. We've been here for less then a day and already we've had an injection and one of us has been stabbed." Said Elizabeth.

"I think we need to leave him here for a few days. If one or two of us try to fix the elevator tomorrow whilst the others say here then we won't be wasting much time." Said Frank.

"Bagsy trying the elevator." Said Elizabeth.

"I'll go with you two." I said.

"I guess that means I stay here then." Said Jesse.

"If you wouldn't mind, we wont leave without either of you." Said Frank.

Alex began to stir in the bed. We turned around.

"Where am I?" He asked groggily.

"Hospital. You managed to get yourself stabbed." Said Jesse. "Again."

"I hate Cardiff." Muttered Alex. "Anything happen whilst I was out?"

"Alex...You know that you had cancer?" Said Elizabeth.

"Hang on. You knew about this?" Asked Jesse.

"You didn't know Alex was writing his will? Or making a bucket list?" Asked Elizabeth.

"No. It would've been nice to have been told." Said Jesse slightly pissed off.

"If he didn't tell you there must have been a reason why. Any way we shouldn't dwell on it." Said Elizabeth.

"Yes. So any way, what about that bloody tumour?" Asked Alex.

"Well, somehow, it's not a normal tumour." Said Elizabeth.

"Right... How do you mean?" Asked Alex confused.

"It's made by eezo poisoning whilst you were in the womb." I said.

"That's... Impossible. Although if it's real then that would make me a biotic." I said.

"Alex. Don't jump to conclusions..." Said Frank.

"What's a biotic." I asked to Elizabeth.

"A mage." She replied. _Simple enough._

"I'll ask the Doctor." Said Alex. "Doc!"

The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway. The same turian doctor walked into the room.

"How are you doing?" He ask as he examine the data-pad that replaced charts.

"Fine Doc. Listen, about the tumour." Said Alex.

"Ah... We need to talk about that privately." Said the turian.

"Okay. Guys, we need somewhere to stay. Check out the "Rim of the Sky." Hotel in the Kithoi wards." Said Alex.

"You think you'll be all right?" I asked.

"Get everyone a Omni-tool and I'll call you should something pop up." Said Alex. "See you in a bit."

We walked out of the room. _Time for a taxi I suppose._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alexander's POV<strong>_

_**.**_

"So, this tumour?" I asked.

"It is a medium level eezo gland. With proper training and a biotic amp you could, in theory, become a biotic." Said the turian doctor. "However due to your age you may only be able to become a biotic hybrid rather then a actual adept."

"So vanguard is a possibility." I asked.

"If you ask me it would be better for you to simply remove the gland." Said the Doctor. "But if you plan a future in the military then there is a massive shortage of biotic troops."

"Hmm...I've never considered a combat based job." I said.

"I've seen your qualifications. It's military or burger flipper." Said the Doc.

"Why did you check my qualifications?" I asked.

"Standard policy when finding new biotics." Said the Doctor.

"All right. What would this training entail?" I asked.

"One and a half earth years with the ascension project." Said the doctor.

"Isn't that for children?" I asked.

"And a few adults." Said the Doctor.

"...How do you know so much about the alliance biotic program?" I asked.

"I checked it up once we found the gland." Said the Doctor.

"Okay. Your saying if I need to use my biotic ability I need to sign up to this alliance program. Or I can have the gland removed?" I asked.

"Yes." Replied the Doctor.

"I need to talk to my friends." I said. I got out my Mobile.

"What the... Isn't that aincient?" Asked the Doctor.

"I'll sell it soon." I said. I selected Frank's name from the contact list. _How is there even any signal here? Oh well._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Scott's POV<strong>_

_**.**_

"Well this place seems nice." I said. We were stood outside a fantastic 4 star hotel. It was in a odd place, considering the Ward it was on.

Frank's phone rang. _Who would ring him?_

"Hello?" He asked Perplexed.

"What do you mean your a biotic!" Shouted Frank.

"One and a half years!" Shouted Frank again.

Then, whoever was on the other end continued to talk for quite a while. After about a minute Frank finally talked again.

"A mercenary group? Are you crazy?. All right I'll ask them." Said Frank. He put his mobile away from his head.

"That is Alex, that tumour could give him the ability to gain biotic powers." Said Frank.

"Really. Shit that must be cool." I replied.

"Yeah, um. He's going away for one and a half years." He said.

"...What." Said everyone.

"We aren't staying here for more then, like, a week or two." Said Elizabeth.

"Alex isn't so sure. He's read about this before. He seems to think we are here for the long run." Explained Frank. "So. What he just asked me is at the end of those one and a half years if we want to create a mercenary company."

"...What!" I shouted.

"He thinks It'll be an excellent way to make money without needing any qualifications. Plus I think he's crazy enough to try to join Shepard." Said Frank.

"...That's odd." Said Elizabeth.

"He made a good point. If we were to sign up to military training we could be combat ready within about the same amount of time." Said Frank.

"Are you seriously suggesting that we join the alliance military, drop out and become mercs?" Asked Elizabeth obviously perplexed.

"I don't know.. Yeah." Said Frank.

"When does he leave?" I asked.

"Next week." Frank replied.

"Shit... We need to pack then." Said Elizabeth.

"You think we should?" Asked Frank.

"If we really are here for the long game. Perhaps we do need some kind of career." I said.

"But that's one and a half years. We can't just give up on trying to get back." Said Elizabeth.

"We aren't giving up Elizabeth." Said Jesse. "I've seen this before, we never get back until we find Shepard. Shepard is the key to us getting back to reality."

"Jesse. The universe doesn't just run off narrative, this is real." Said Elizabeth.

"No. It does. The main character is our way out of here. If we get to Shepard, we get back home." Said Jesse.

"So we are going to join the milatery?" I asked.

"No first we are going to get a hotel room. And sell all of our crap." Said Frank. "We'll do it." He said into his mobile phone.

"Let's sign in." I said.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Three days later<strong>_

.

"So they finally let you out of the hospital?" I asked.

"Yeah, they say the wound healed up nicely, plus I got all of my injections up to date. Speaking of which you guys need to do that tomorrow." Said Alex.

We were clothes shopping. We had managed to sell all of our 21st century stuff and replace it with modern technology. All that was left was the rest of our clothes.

"I'll take three of these." Said Alex carrying three long-coats, all dark brown.

"That's all your buying?" I asked. "Don't you need, I don't know...Pants?"

"Alliance will supply them, they do not supply awesomeness quite like a long-coat." Said Alex.

"Whatever. You girls buying anything." I asked.

"Scott, we are in the lingerie section. What the fuck do you think we are buying." They said. _Epp._

"Um... So Frank!" I said trying to divert the conversation. "What are you buying?"

"Underwear. Please, stop asking that question." Replied Frank.

"Okay." I replied.

I went to the checkout of the store. I was carrying a green hoodie and a orange one. _It's odd, green and orange always reminded me of my dad Jorge._

_I hope I'll see the big guy again. He'd be glad I'm getting a career in the military._

"That'll be 45 credits please." Said the cashier. Alex threw me the 30,000 credit chit. She scanned it.

"Thank you come again." She said as she handed it back. I passed it to Alex.

"300 credits please." Said the Cashier. _Thank god he doesn't have access to our funds for one and a half years._

"Thank you come again." Said the cashier.

This continued for a while, so why don't I skip to next week hey?

* * *

><p><em><strong>Four days later<strong>_

_**.**_

"Well this is it." Said Alex. We were in on of the many docks on the citedal. Alex had joined about thirty other people on their way to join the military.

"Alex, are you sure you want to do this? You aren't the most active person I know." Said Elizabeth.

"Relax, I did fencing, I'll be fine." Replied Alex.

"How many others are doing biotic training?" I asked.

"Only two other people, but they're already on board." Replied Alex.

"Good luck mate." Said Frank.

"I'll miss you guys." Said Alex. He drew us in for a group hug. "This is probably the longest time we've been apart."

"It'll fly by. I promise." I said to Alex. He stopped the hug.

"If you guys ever need me. Just call me and I'll drop everything to help." Said Alex.

"I think it's going to be the other way around, your the one on your own. We've got each other to look our for us." Said Elizabeth.

Alex turned around. A single uniformed solider beckoned.

"I've got to go. But listen, I have a plan." Said Alex.

"For what?" Asked Frank.

"To get back home." Replied Alex. He turned around, then hugged us again.

"I'll miss you guys...So much." Said Alex.

"We'll meet again, doesn't matter how long, nor where." Said Jesse.

"Let's hope it's not hell." Said Alex.

"You aren't being sent to your death, just training camp." I said.

"Biotic training camp. Good luck!" He shouted as he ran towards the frigate. Around us hundreds of young men and women were saying goodbye to their loved ones. _I guess in a strange way that is what Alex was doing._

Alex walked the last part. Rucksack in hand, he turned back to face us.

We waved him off. He mouthed something. But I didn't understand it.

Then as we walked away the cargo bay doors closed behind as him and thirty other alliance cadets walked towards their new home.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

_**Later that evening**_

We were all sat around the table. It was time for dinner and to be quite frankly honest I was starving. Most of the cadets on the ship were 22 or less. It made me one of the oldest aboard. Except for the actual soldiers. The ship was a frigate class ship named "The Hastings." It was old, roughly 10 years, but it's design was fantastic. My first space ship. Incredibly. Even just watching the ship travel through the Mass Relay was a sight to behold.

Of course, I didn't expect all the recruits to be so shy. So, dinner time was an excellent place to start a conversation.

"So why are you people here?" I asked, breaking the ice.

"Oh... I am here because of Mindoir." Said a 5ft 7 brunette with a Russian accent.

"Really? What happened?" I asked.

"My father was a colonial militia cop. But during the raid he got...KIA'd" She replied with a tear in her eye.

"Revenge? Let me tell you this right away, you will never find it in the Navy." Said a Old voice.

I turned around, sat on his own with his legs on the table was a man who was wearing his hoddie concealing his face.

"Who are you?" I asked, dropping my voice to a tone similar to his.

"They call me Emile. I call myself death." Said the man known as Emile.

"Dark and mysterious guy. What are you here for." I asked.

"After 24 years killing people with me bare hands, turned out I could've done it with biotics." He replied. _Oh great I work with this twat._

"Wait, what are you here for?" Asked a recruit. He couldn't have been older then 19.

"Biotic gland. I needed training for a war that hasn't even started yet." I said as cheerfully as possible.

"...Okay." Said the recruit slowly.

I finished my plate. _I am not enjoying army food. Only one and a half years left. "YAY"_

The Commander of the ship walked in to the mess hall.

"If any of you recruits have finished, It's time for your physical." Said the Commander. _Oh shit._

"You there! Lymney!" Shouted the Commander. _Why does everyone call me that. _"Your up first."

I walk towards him, he leads me out into the corridor.

"Just down there, second left." Said the Commander pointing to the port side. I walked down and open the second door on the left. I opened into a doctors office.

"Hello?" I asked.

"And you are?" Asked the Doctor. _Impossible._

"Dr Chakwas..." I mumbled.

"Yes, that's my name. Now, you are?" Asked Dr Chakwas. _Impossible. She can't be here. _

"Alexander Julian Dawson." I replied.

"Let me check..." She said as she checked a clipboard. "Ah yes. You're on of the biotics aren't you?"

"Yes. From Eden Prime." I replied.

"Okay, so you've had injections on... Thursday?" She asked.

"I thought it would save some time." I replied.

"Okay. Well you don't have a medical exam from you, so if you would please remove your pants." She said. _Ah crap._

"Bloody hell." I muttered. I remove my T-Shirt, my trousers and my socks. _Oh good the door is cold! Stupid metal floors._

"All rigqhty then." Said Chakwas. _This is going to be a long flight._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well that's another chapter of Mass &amp; Energy down. Next chapter will concern both Alex's, Scott's, Frank's, Jesse's and Elizabeth's training over one and a half years. So it's going to be a long one! See you soon.<strong>_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Mass & Energy One**_

_**Chapter Four- Boot Camp**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

_**3 months later **_

_**Grissom Academy**_

_**.**_

"Dammit Kids, this is a obstacle course! Not a walk in the bloody park!" Shouted Sergeant McCoy through the intercom.

It had been 3 months since I had joined the Ascension program. We were sent in with the kids for some of our training courses. I found it hard to believe any kid could ever do these courses. But at least they had breaks for learning Maths, Science and Modern languages. We had Military training for twelve hours a day. The day started like this, with a obstacle course, every day more difficult then the next. Then whilst the kids had lessons we had fire arms training, hours of workouts and biotic training. And this course was not doing well. We weren't given L3 implants until we could display some basic biotic ability. And so far I had failed.

"Come on Max." I said to this kid who was trailing behind, almost on his hands and knees. "You can make it the last 50m."

"I can't do it Alex." Said the nine year old. "I want to forfeit."

I gulped. No one dared take the forfeit for a good reason. It was 2 minute in "the tank". A 3m tank filled with water with a gravity modifying Eezo core, which could randomly changed the gravity from nothing to 10 G's. When submerged it was horrible. The chance of drowning was almost certain, and trying to swim whilst under water in zero gravity was nearly impossible. Without any sense of up or down, bottom or top, that could cause a man to drown.

"Come on kid... Just 50 metres." I said.

"No. Go on without me." Said Max.

_Dammit kid, don't make me do this._

I picked Max up and placed him on my shoulder.

"We do this together, no one ever gets behind." I said.

I then ran the rest of the course. I climbed the brick wall, all 10 metres, then climbed back down. Took me 70 seconds.

I then jumped through the tires course. Finally I crawled under the barbed wire course.

I was the very last person to arrive at the finish line. True enough, sergeant McCoy was waiting for me.

"Mr Dawson, you lymney fuck. Even these bloody nine year olds are showing you up. I can't believe you consider yourself solider worthy material." Shouted the Sergeant.

I took Max down from my shoulder.

"What the hell is this! Did you let this fucking runt cheat!" Shouted McCoy.

"Sir yes Sir." I replied.

"This is against the fucking rules. Now which one of you gits wants the Tank." Asked McCoy angrily.

The Max kid almost stepped forward, ready to face the music. I pushed the kid back and stepped forward myself.

"My fault sir." I said.

"Hah ha ha." Shouted McCoy.

"We've got a volunteer! Grab him." Said McCoy pointing towards two soldiers.

I was grabbed and dragged towards a 3m tall metallic cylinder. Another solider opened the top of the tube.

"Good luck. See you in two minutes." Said McCoy.

I was thrown in head first. I remembered to take a deep breath. They quickly closed the lid of the tube.

"Okay, there's ten centimetres of air. Can't be that bad..." I said.

Suddenly I felt my entire world flip, turn upside down. My head smashed against the roof of the tube. I was upside down in three metres of water.

I quickly swam towards the top, hoping to breath again. But then the gravity shifted again, towards the side this time. There wasn't enough space for me to breath. I hopped that the gravity would shift again.

And it did. It returned to normal. I quickly swam upwards again. As I raised to the surface I drew a massive breath.

"Shit shit shit shit!" I said.

Suddenly, my heart and entire body sank as the gravity increased ten fold, sinking me almost instantaneously to the floor.

_Focus Alex. Unleash your power. Remember, feel your finger tips, Calculate the mass of me. Then... Release._

Nothing happened.

_Come on. Assume Direct control of your nervous system now!_

A blue light began to engulf me. A little at first. But I felt as if my very being was lightening.

_It's working! Use the force!_

I felt lighter. I swam for dear life towards the top of the tube. It was a lot easier, my muscles were more then capable of carrying only 30kg of weight. I reached the surface and breathed again.

_I can use my biotic ability! I am a biotic God!_

_Don't get ahead of yourself Alex._

_Yes sir._

…_.._

_What the fuck was that about?_

The gravity flipped one more time and return to normal gravity. I looked up under the water. A light was shining through the tank. I swam to the top, using my biotics to make myself lighter and therefore swim faster. I gasped for air one more time.

"So you've survived Mr Dawson. Now there's a surprise." Said McCoy.

_Time to test this out._

I grabbed the sides of the tube and pulled myself out with as much force as I could. I jumped one metre out of the water before falling to the side of the tube. I finally let my biotics go. I was tired, hungry and nearly blind. But I had made it.

"Did you just... Get this guy to the barracks. Everyone else dismissed!" Shouted McCoy.

I took this as a opportunity to pass out...

.

I awoke in my own bunk, surrounded my various camp officials.

"What happened..." I asked.

"You are Mr Dawson?" Asked a women, who I think was Kahlee Sanders herself.

"He is indeed. Best display of non implant biotics from a non adept candidate I have ever seen." Said McCoy, who has seemed to have calmed down considerably since my near death experience.

"Hmm. Then I suggest we get the L3 implanted right away." Said Doctor Brown, our camp's physician.

"Son, would you like to take your biotic training to the next level." Asked McCoy.

I considered this for barely two seconds.

"Yes." I replied.

"Prep for brain surgery, we've got a implant to... implant." Said Doctor Brown.

"Wait.. Brain surgery?" I asked still slightly dazed.

"Perhaps we should knock him out now." Said Sergeant McCoy. _Oh shit._

"Indeed." Said Doctor Brown. He applied a gas mask to my face and I breath in.

_Ohhhhh pretty..._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Jesse's POV<strong>_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**Terra Nova**_

"Now remember, breath slowly... Rest the gun on the ground." Said drill sergeant Johnson.

I and the other twenty infiltrator recruits aimed down the firing range.

I looked down the sniper's scope. The range-finder said that target was roughly 56m away. I aim carefully for the largest part of the target, the chest. Every slight movement would knock the gun away from the target. I had to be precise, accurate... Carefull.

I held my breath one more time. I aimed square at the chest and...Fired.

The bullet hit almost a metre away from the target.

"Nice try Jessica, but it takes patience, skill and years of training to make a decent..." Said Johnson.

I quickly aimed in the rough proximity of the target, and fired. The bullet hit the target straight in the arm.

"Or perhaps dumb luck?" I asked.

After a few seconds of awkward silence Johnson said..

"Perhaps it's time we work on those Omni-tools." Said Johnson.

I activated my Omni-tool. A bright orange holographic display light up on my arm.

"All right recruits, now I want you to test out the overloads today. Down the range are 20 shielded targets. Every person assign themselves one target, then activate the amp on your omni tool. Remember, it's a direct fire application, so you have to aim!" shouted Sergeant Johnson.

I looked down the target range. The target showed up on my HUD as having shields. I aimed carefully standing up.

"No. Jessica, you have to be fast. Get into cover and aim from there." Said Sergeant Johnson.

I took cover behind the bench. I pressed a holographic button on my Omni-tool, which primed the over load. After a second of rapidly looking over my shoulder I activated it. The overload quickly slammed into the target, removing it's shield.

I looked around. One guy had managed to overload his own face. Another had blown out a light. _I think I can do this after all._

"Good work people. Now for firearms practice!" Shouted Sergeant Johnson.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Arcturus Station<strong>_

_**Alliance military HQ**_

_**Admiral Hackett**_

_**.**_

"Captain here are the recent recruit lists. I've marked the promising ones in yellow sir." Said my assistant.

"Very well." I looked down the list. There were roughly twenty names in yellow, 7 soldiers, 2 adepts, three vanguards, a sentinel, four infiltrators and 4 engineers.

I picked a name at random.

"Richard .L Jenkins huh." I said to myself. The report listed him as a solider. His tenacity reports were off the charts. Brave as they come. But the report listed him as head strong. Showed a remarkable ability against aerial targets. _Could be useful against combat drones deployed on the battlefield._ I marked him down as a maybe.

I checked the next solider.

"Scott Grimes." I muttered. Early reports listed him as a strong solider, capable of taking on a lot of fire. His versatility wasn't great and he seemed to prefer Assault rifles and Shotguns over pistols and sniper rifles. So a close range kind of solider. _May not be precisely what we need for the ship, but we'll see._

"Right. Let's see about the Vanguards." I said. One name was first alphabetically. Alexander Dawson. Seemingly rather powerful, but his actual shooting skills seem to be below exemplary. Shotgun skills questionable, not great for a vanguard, but good with assault rifle. _Another maybe._

"Need some engineers." I said to myself again. Two immediately stuck out. Elizabeth Morely. Her ability to work tech was fantastic. She reportedly took apart and reassembled a Shield generator and increased it's recharge speed by 5%. However, notes suggest that her shooting skills are awful. _Perhaps a role aboard the ship rather then part of it?_

Then there was another one. Frank Miller. His combat skills were exemplary, but lacked the calmness and expertise of the technology to be useful off the front-line. _A good candidate._

I took a swig of coffee.

I checked the infiltrators. Two names came immediately to my attention. One Coates. A excellent sniper, but he focuses far too much on only sniping. Limited Tech powers.

And then there was Jessica Pierce. Extremely lucky. And a fast aimer. Also good with Tech powers, however has a problem with short range combat.

_I need another Coffee._

"I'll look at this later." I Said. "We'll need that Normandy personal list soon though."

* * *

><p><em><strong>One year Later<strong>_

_**Scott's POV**_

_**.**_

"Welcome soldiers to the SSV Madrid. I am Captain Muhammed Julani." Said the Captain. "Now we here are just doing a normal patrol of near Terminus systems. I hope you enjoy your stay aboard the Madrid."

I walked out of the bridge. The hallways of the cruiser were surprising empty for such a large ship. I walked for a while, down two floors until I reached the deck I would be staying on. I threw my bag into the room. Inside were 4 other alliance marines playing cards.

"So I says to Marcy I says." Said one of the marines.

"Mind if I join?" I asked. The soldiers looked at me.

"You one of those recruit on their first patrol?" Asked one of the soldiers.

"Yeah." I replied.

"All right take a seat." Said the soldier. "You know Skyllian five?"

"Sure, no different then real poker right?" I asked.

"Close enough." Said a female solider.

I looked at my hand. I had two aces, a two and a six. Not the best hand ever. But still has potential.

"What are we betting?" I asked.

"Not paid enough to bet credits. So we are betting omni gel." Said the male soldier.

"Omni gel?" I asked sceptically.

"Yeah, very useful aboard the ship, and if we are ever deployed to a ship it's almost definite loot." Said the male soldier.

"Okay." I said.

.

We played Skyllian way into the night. Turned out that, despite the name and Jonathan's reassurance Skyllian five is not like normal poker. I owed about 15 units of Omni-Gel to each person. But it was fun at least. They let me stay in their room. They had a spare bed, which they didn't want to talk about. Guess I am sleeping in the bed of a dead man. But the crew is nice.

I am going to be aboard the SSV Madrid for roughly a month, before we are returned to Arcturus station for our acceptance into the army. _At which point I'm going to need a way out._

I activated my Omni-tool, I selected Elizabeth's name.

After 20 seconds she "Picked up" her Omni-tool.

"Hello Scott." Said Elizabeth.

"Hey. I am on service now. Aboard the SSV Madrid." I said,

"Really? Good for you. Hang on did you say the SSV Madrid you say? I think that gets destroyed in the first Mass Effect." She said.

"Yeah. Hey have you heard from the others recently?" I asked.

"Yeah. Frank called, saying that he will also be at Arcturus around about the same time as us. Haven't heard from Jesse for a while but that's to be expected given the mission she's on." Replied Elizabeth.

"Cool." I said.

"And Alex says that he may not be able to simply leave the military like us. Biotics don't quite have the same rights as us, especially since he signed up for it. So he's going to have to do something drastic at some point." Said Elizabeth.

"Any idea of what he's planning?" I asked.

"Go the fuck to sleep Scott." moaned Jonathan.

"No. But being his usual crazed self we should find out in about a month." Said Elizabeth.

"All right. Give my regards to the others." I said.

"See you." Said Elizabeth.

"Bye." I replied. I hung up.

.

Warrant Officer Broody walked towards the mess hall. About 30 other privates and recruits turned their heads to face him.

"Marines, we have reports of a bunch of pirates operating from the nearby planet." Said the sergeant. "Low gravity environment, toxic atmosphere, so full enviro-suits necessary. Recruits and soldiers will be on this one. Captain Julani will have the roster list within the hour. Just a heads up." Said the Sergeant.

We slowly returned to our conversations.

"So, you want a part of this Scott?" Asked Jonathan.

"Sure. Could do with some live fire practice." I replied.

"Practice? Let me give you a heads up. Pirates don't play fair. They don't follow any kind of code or rules. Hell, they may even use polonium rounds against you. So expect the unexpected." Said Jonathan.

"Thanks. Personal experience?" I asked.

"More times then I care to mention." He replied.

"Right. Anything else?" I asked.

"Yeah. You can't call dibs on equipment until we land and most of it goes to the Alliance." Said Lydia.

"Shame." I said.

"Right, let's head to the bridge and see who's going down." Said Jonathan.

We walked towards the elevator. Lydia pressed the button for the second floor and CIC.

We got in. The doors closed and the elevator rose. It took a full minute for the elevator to go up one floor. _Seriously what is with that?_

We got out of the elevator. Captain Julani was standing next to the galaxy map.

"Captain?" Asked Jonathan.

"Yes Sergeant?" asked the captain.

"Who is partaking in this mission?" He asked.

"What are your names?" He asked.

"Uh... I'm Jonathan Reynolds, that's Lydia Hamish, Scott Grimes, Miles McCormick and Abigail Williamson." Said Jonathan.

"Hmm... Yeah, the names are on the roster list. You are Echo squad." Said the captain.

"Get ready, we drop in a hour." Said the Captain.

"Got it." Said Sergeant Jonathan.

We walked away from the CIC.

"All right, get your armour and guns from downstairs, check your attachments and keep your Medi-Gel supplies high." Said Jonathan.

"Got it." Said Abigail.

We walked back towards the elevator.

.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One Hour later<strong>_

We stood in the shuttle bay of the cruiser. It had five shuttles, each carrying two squads.

"Initial intel suggest that we've got a large base here. Roughly 70 pirates. We believe they were responsible for the recent raid on civilian ships in the area." Said The captain.

"So. Remember, be fast, be clean, and don't let them get to their ship." Said the Captain. "Got it?"

"Yes sir!" Shouted about 25 marines.

"Good luck soldiers." Said the captain, before turning around and heading back towards the elevator.

"All right marines. We are on Shuttle M-3." Said Jonathan.

"Got it sir." Said Lydia.

"Horrah!" I shouted. The soldiers looked at me.

"No one says that any more." Said Lydia. "That fell out of style after the great marine riot of 67"

"Oh..Sorry." I said.

"Just fucking with you. Come on, let's get aboard the shuttle." Said Lydia.

We walked aboard the shuttle. It was coloured white and red, the colours of the alliance in 2181.

After a few minutes the shuttle lifted off. I held on to the roof as we accelerated to what I assumed was the planet below. The journey was normal for five minutes until.

"Sergeant, M-1 here. It's worse then we feared. The pirates have a space cannon. Once they realised we are here they are going to aim that thing strait at the Madrid. You've got a limited amount of time before they start firing, so, we have to stop that ASAP." Said the driver of M-1 shuttle.

"Shit. All right Privates, you heard that." Said Jonathan. "We need to get in, get out and stop that anti-cruiser cannon."

"Got it." We all said.

After about two minutes the shuttle finally landed.

I Step out of the shuttle first and took cover behind a nearby pillar. As everyone took cover we looked around. The shuttles were lifting off, and several pirates were heading towards where they were weapons raised.

"All right. In 3." Whispered Jonathan.

He stuck three fingers. Then two. Then one.

I stood out of cover and began to fire. I sprayed at the pirates. They dived for cover.

"Go go go!" Shouted Jonathan.

Whilst Lydia stayed back covering us with a sniper rifle I switched to my shotgun and ran forward. I jumped over a chest high wall one of the pirates was hiding behind at fired my shotgun at him. However, his shield held and he punched me in the face. As I fell to the floor I dropped my shotgun. The pirate took out his pistol and aimed at my face. But I anticipated this and kicked him in the balls. As he squatted in pain I drew my own pistol and fired to rounds into his head.

As he fell to the floor I got back up again.

"Move it marines! We've got a gun to stop." Said Jonathan.

We ran forwards. The base was one large circle wall enclosing various buildings. It was roughly a mile radius, but we could see the large gun from here.

As we ran we didn't spot the red dots trying to stay on us.

Until

"Ah!" Shouted Jonathan. He fell to the floor clutching his chest. We all rolled for cover whilst Miles crawled towards him.

"All right, looks like a sniper bullet to the chest. Could be a suit rupture. I need some Medi-gel and Omni-gel stat!" Shouted Miles.

_Fuck.. I'm all out. Lydia won most of it, but she's about 100m away._

"I've got nothing Miles!" I shouted.

"Sergeant, do you have any, that rupture can't seal on it's own!" Shouted Miles.

"No..." Muttered Jonathan.

"I'm going to carry him back, but the lives of the people aboard the SSV Madrid are in danger. Abigail, Scott, get to the gun and assist the other squads. Lydia will cover you with the rifle." Said Miles. "I've got to get John out of here."

"Good luck." I said.

"You to. Now go!" He shouted.

I nodded to Abigail and brought out my assault rifle. We peeked over the cover. It seemed the other squads had caused effective diversion.

We ran towards the gun. There was a building ahead that had a airlock. We ran inside it.

"All right, expect a few inside, so shotguns and pistols Scott." Said Abigail.

"Got it." I replied.

The doors locked behind us. A gas filled the air lock chamber. After 10 seconds a green light switched on. The room was pressurised.

Of course, it was too much hassle to remove my helmet, so I left it on. Abigail did the same.

We turned the wheel to open the door and looked into the corridor.

A few pirates were guarding the corridor from a side room. They opened fire at us. We took cover on either side of the door.

"On three!" I shouted.

"All right!" She shouted back.

"One!" I shouted.

"Two!" I shouted again.

"Three!" We both shouted before emerging from cover.

I ran forward shotgun in hand whilst Abigail gave me covering fire with her pistol.

The Pirates took a few shots at me, lowering my shield to dangerous levels. But by the time I reached them it was still their. I span around to face them and unloaded two shots into the nearest pirate. He collapsed onto the floor. But his mate was fast, he fired his shotgun into me. My shields fell and I also fell to the floor. I shouted out to Abigail to help but another pirate stepped over me and began to fire at her with a assault rifle, forcing her into cover. The pirate that had the shotgun put it on his back and drew a knife. I tried to kick him but he stood on my neck. He leant down...

When suddenly a blue light surrounded him and he has pulled into the corridor. I heard six shots.

I got up and turned around. A biotic saved my life.

I stepped into the corridor. There was a helmeted solider standing with his assault rifle in his arms.

"Take five solider, Delta squad are heading towards the control room." Said a extremely posh British voice.

"Alex?" I asked.

"Scott?" He asked aswell.

"My god! What are you doing here!" I shouted.

"I could ask the same thing! I had no idea you were on the Madrid!" Shouted Alex with detectable glee.

"Shit! How come I didn't see you in Mess hall this morning?" I asked.

"Different shift. For me it's about 5 o'clock." Replied Alex.

"Oh. It's about 10:00 for me." I said.

There were a few seconds of silence.

"So, your a solider I see. Always thought you were tough." Said Alex.

"Yeah, well I get a shit lot of guns and medium armour, what's not to love." I said.

"Yeah, I get a assault rifle and a pistol." Said Alex. "And this shitty light armour."

"Huh." I said.

Abigail walked towards us.

"What the hell are you doing! We've got a gun to disable!" She shouted.

"Oh don't worry, Delta and Bravo are dealing with that." Said Alex.

I then heard muffled talking coming from his ear.

"Delta vanguard? This is Alpha leader, you're squad are taking fire and the pirates have boarded up the control room real tight. You have to stop that gun getting online. Find another way into the control room or the Madrid is dust." Said a women over the comms.

"Alpha leader this is Delta Vanguard, I'll try the air vents but I need you to keep them distracted. I'll make my way there ASAP but keep the heat on them. Delta V out." Said Alex.

"All right, you two, come help me into the vent." Said Alex.

"All right." I replied. I grabbed the nearby grating and pulled on it.

"Scott, step out the way." Said Alex.

"Why, we have to get it open?" I asked.

"I know." Said Alex. His arm covered itself in the same blue light as before when he launched some kind of sphere at the grate. It pulled off of it's hinges and flew into the corridor.

"Now I know what a biotic is." I said.

Alex drew his pistol.

"I told you before, mage." Said Alex. "in we go, Gordon Freeman style."

He crouched into the vent. With a shrug me and Abigail climbed in after him.

It was cramepd. It couldn't have been more then a metre square. But time was of the essence, we had to crouch. It killed my back, especially with weapons on it. But I didn't slow down. Eventually we came to a stop. Alex lifted up his hand.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Control room." Said Alex.

I peaked over his shoulder, trying carefully not to bang my head against the roof of the vents. There were 8 people in their, split into groups of four, covering two entrances. A perfect opportunity.

"Let's drop in for a chat." Said Alex. He Blasted the vent open with another biotic attack and dropped down into the control room. Me and Abigail followed after him. I stood with my back against his.

"Hey guys?" Shouted Alex.

The pirates turned around. _What the fuck are you doing!_

"Sorry to drop in unannounced." Said Alex. He then launched a biotic lift at one of the pirates and began spraying the rest with his assault rifle. I did the same on my side whilst Abigail finished them off with her pistol. Once they were taken care of Alex turned his attention to the control panel.

"Shit! I can't stop the firing! I can't work this shit!" shouted Alex.

One of the soldiers from Alpha squad walked in.

"Perhaps I can help?" Asked a American accented man. _Wait a second?_

"Frank?" Both me and Alex asked.

"Guys?" Asked Frank. "What are you doing here!"

"I know your little reunion must be important but 500 people might die if you don't hurry up!" shouted Abigail.

"Oh, right." Said Frank.

He turned his attention to the console and activated his Omni-tool. After a few seconds of frantic typing on their he turned his attention to the console.

"Dammit! They've got a local network acting as a fire wall. If we can't find a nearby computer and destroy it I may not be able to stop the firing." Said Frank.

"How close would it have to be?" Asked Alex.

"Hmm. Probably within this or the next room." Replied Frank.

I poked my head out of the door.

"Hey! Alpha team! Is their a laptop or something out there. Find it quick!" I shouted.

I turned around, Alex and Abigail were frantically trying to find a laptop inside the room.

"30 seconds till armed and ready, power capacitors activated." Said the Computer.

"Shit! Any luck!" Shouted Frank.

None of Alpha team responded. They were still looking.

"20 seconds till armed." Said the computer.

"Shit shit shit!" Said Frank.

There were no computers other then the giant console.

"Fifteen seconds till firing." Said the computer.

_Unless... Aren't omni-tools computers?_

"Check the bodies Omni-tools!" I shouted.

Alex and Abigail quickly turned around and deactivated all of the pirate's omni-tools.

"All of them turned off, did it work?" Asked Abigail.

Frank restarted his hack.

"Ten seconds." Said the computer.

"Shut up!" Said Frank.

"Nine." Said the computer. Frank typed faster, his brow sweating. "Eight." Frank quickly actiavted his Omni-tool and typed in something. "Seven." Frank looked at the computer screen, dead serious, and pointed his omni-tool at the console.

"Six." Said the computer. "Five, four, three."

Frank's Omni tool deactivated and he quickly typed something in.

"Two." Said the computer. Frank pressed enter. "On... Firing averted."

"Fuck yeah!" Shouted Frank.

"All right!" Said Alex.

"Phew." muttered Abigail.

"Good call Scott." Said Frank.

"Good hacking" I replied with a nod.

"I think... I need a drink." Said Alex.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well that's the new chapter. More will continue, hopefully at a decent pace next time. Sorry for any streches taken with hacking but I had to make it exciting. If you want my opinion on the Mass Effect 3 ending: If you're seen the Mass Effect Fanfiction page it's the same as everyone else... Desperately needs a re-write. Have a good week and...<strong>_

_**Enjoy yourselves.**_

_**Empeorie**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Mass & Energy One:**_

_**Chapter 5: AWOL**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>One Week Later<strong>_

_**Arcturus Station**_

_**Jesse's POV**_

"Well Recruits, I have to say it's been a good one and a half years. In the next week you will all be official Alliance soldiers. You will receive your deployment orders then." Said Sergeant Johnson. I turned around briefly. A ship was docking nearby. It read "SSV Madrid."

"But, as the alliance's newest infiltrators, let me welcome you, to the defenders of humanity." Said Sergeant Johnson again. The doors of the dock opened.

"The ceremony will begin in three days. Don't be late." Said the sergeant.

I turned around. A large group of marines disembarked from the SSV Madrid. I moved out of the way of them and ducked into a nearby shop.

"Souvenirs ma'am?" Asked the store clerk. Behind the till their were shirts saying ".ARCTURUS" and "I fought at the battle of Elysium and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt."

"No thanks." I replied.

I turned back to the large crowd of soldiers. A rather large man was walking past, followed by a tall thin man and a blond haired short man.

"Scott?" I shouted.

The large bold man turned around.

"Jesse?" Asked Scott. The other two turned around and smile.

"Guys!" I shout as we run towards each other. We hug.

"One and a half years. Long time no see." Said Scott.

We break apart from the hug.

"So... How's the training been?" Asked Alex.

"All right, got a nice CO. No actual engagements yet. Though I heard you were in one recently?" I asked.

"Yeah. Pirate base on Vern's moon. Nothing big." Said Frank.

"Nothing big? You managed to stop a cruiser from being blown out of the sky!" Shouted Alex.

"Couldn't have done it without you two though." Replied Frank.

"I'm sure. Say, why don't we find Elizabeth on this station and get absolutely smashed." Suggested Alex.

"You sure?" I asked, wondering about the ceremony.

"Yeah, the induction ceremony is in three days. We can get smashed tonight and tomorrow." Replied Alex.

"Sorry, been a while since I've been around you guys. Smashed?" Asked Frank.

"Get drunk." We all replied.

"Got it." He replied.

"All right. Anyone know where Elizabeth may be?" Asked Frank.

"Yeah, she said she was visiting the parliament building." Replied Scott.

"Then that would be where we go. See if you can call her." Said Frank.

We walked out of the shop. Frank turned on his Omni-Tool to bring up a map. After a few seconds he pointed left. We followed behind him. I walked next to Alex.

"So... Ascension Project. How is that?" I asked.

"Different." Replied Alex. "The place is a lot stricter then it is in the games. Perhaps it's because of Cerberus spies in the place. Don't know."

"So, tough I presume?" I asked.

"16 hour days, training biotics for most of it. You know, telekinesis, barriers, that sort of thing. The last 4 months focused more on shooting though, eight hours straight at a firing range is not fun." Replied Alex.

"What weapons are you using?" I asked.

"Assault rifle and Pistol." He replied.

"For a vanguard?" I asked.

"If the get too close I'll lift them up. Biotics still pierce shields in this time." Alex replied. "And come Mass Effect two I'm defiantly getting myself biotic charge. Most awesome power ever."

"Hmm." I replied, remember all the times he stole our kills in Mass Effect Multiplayer.

"And what are you using?" Alex Asked. We turned a corner.

"Sniper and Pistol." I replied.

"To be expected. Are you good?" Alex Asked.

"Amazing. Can drill a target between the eyes at 250m." I replied. "Any more and I cheat and aim for the chest."

"Huh. Can't wait for our first assignment." Said Alex absent mindedly.

"And how are we going to leave the military? At least one tour of duty remember?" I stressed.

"Get myself Sectioned 8." Replied Alex.

"They have psychoanalysts for that kind of thing. Besides, ever read catch-22." I reminded him.

"Hey, I can bluff my way out of anything." Said Alex cockily.

"Hah! Not Cardiff though." I reminded him.

"We don't talk about Cardiff." Alex said annoyed.

"Yeah.. Do you mind if I talk to the others for a bit?" I asked.

"Knock yourself out." Said Alex. I walked ahead to get level with the other two. We turned another corner.

"So. You two. How's things been?" I asked.

"All right. Did you know that in theory, every Omni-tool and computer in the galaxy has enough processing power to control thirty enemy dreadnoughts remotely, even with powerful firewalls. ." Said Frank.

"No...What has that got to do with anything?" I asked.

"Nothing, just an interesting fact." Said Frank.

"Okay..." I muttered.

We turned a final corridor into a large glass atrium. Above us was a perfect view of the system, and the many Mass Relays in it, acting as the human hub of transportation across the galaxy. The walls were unlike the rest of the architecture, rather then metal they were marble and glass. It looked fantastic, and yet at odds with the rest of the station. On the far side of the room was a kiosk, where various tourists were lining up to enter the Alliance Parliament. They weren't any aliens here, but seeing as this was the home of the Alliance that wasn't surprising. A single blond haired girl was sitting alone. _Elizabeth!_

"Hey!" Shouted Scott.

"Hello guys." She said excitedly as she walked towards us.

We all move in for another hug. _Seriously, that's twice in one day. I swear to god._

"So. A Scottish engineer huh." Said Alex sarcastically. The hug stopped.

"That's not a excuse for you to call me Scotty you son of a..." Said Jesse half heartedly.

"No... I'm saving that for Kenneth." Replied Alex.

"All right. Well, you guys aren't here just for the tourism, so, I guess you want to get hammered?" Asked Elizabeth.

We all turned around to Frank as he was opening his mouth.

"Drunk." We all said. He shut his mouth and nodded.

"Excuse me?" Asked Alex to a nearby Military Policemen. "Where's the nearest bar?"

"Aren't you alliance?" Asked the Cop.

"No." Lied Alex quickly.

"Then no bar for you." Said the military policeman.

"Oh." mumbled Alex. The cop walked away. "I can't ask for directions can I?"

"I have a map you know?" Said Frank.

"...Shut up. Where's the bar?" Asked Alex.

Frank turned on his Omni-tool and checked it again.

"This way." He said, heading back the way we came. We followed him.

* * *

><p>"And that's when I punched the mayor of Cardiff!" Shouted Alex drunkenly.<p>

"Really?" Asked the Asari he was talking too.

"Yeah. Hey, barkeep, another drink for my lady friend!" Alex shouted.

I turned away from that conversation, knowing what chat up line Alex would use on Asari. And I quote _"I haven't got eternity to embrace, but how about tonight?"_

_Yeah. Awful. But that's probably why he's getting her shitfaced._

"Another Martini." I ordered.

"Coming Right up." Said the Bartender.

While I was waiting for my drink I turned to Frank, who was playing cards with some marines. None of them had noticed that he was using his Omni-tool and some spare omni-gel to create a straight flush. _He's going to get the shit kicked into him._

Then I turned to Scott and Elizabeth, who were sipping wine and catching up on the events of the past year and a half. _Not that there's much to say._

"Here you are ma'am." Said the bartender holding my Martini.

"So...What's an Asari doing aboard Arcturus?" Asked Alex. _...Yeah. That's a good point._

"I'm here with Matriarch Serena." Replied the Asari. "Diplomatic relations."

"huh. Well why don't we take this elsewhere and have take "Diplomatic action?"" Asked Alex. _That was F**ing awful._

"He he he." Laughed the Asari drunkenly.

"Before you attempt Diplomatic action Alex, remember where you are staying?" I asked.

"...No." Replied Alex.

"The you're going to have to...Do whatever you plan to do round hers." I said.

Alex raised his eyebrow at her.

"No. The Matriarch would kill me!" Shouted the Asari a little excitedly.

"And why would I kill you?" Bellowed a deep female voice. I turned around. Behind us was a tall Asari, dressed in a extremely expensive red and black dress.

"Hello Ma'am!" Shouted the Asari as she jumped to attention. The swayed a little.

"And you must be Matriarch Serena?" Asked Alex smoothly. "My friend here was telling me about you." _As smooth as one can be whilst drunk._

"Human, I forbid you from associating yourself with my people. Step aside before I crush you." Said the Matriarch. Her hands glowed the familiar blue of biotic energy.

"The only way you could crush me is if you were to step on me. I'm not saying your fat but there is no point in you increasing you mass for any task." Joked Alex. I attempted to back away. Alex was about to get his arse wiped across the wall.

"So be it." Said the Asari. She launched a biotic throw at Alex, sending him into the drinks shelf of the bar. As Alcohol poured onto his head he got up. He grabbed a nearby smashed whisky bottle and took a swig.

"Let the games Begin." Said Alex. He covered himself in biotic energy and made a jump at her. I guess he decreased his own mass because he practically flew. He then increased his mass ten fold as he slammed into the asari, sending the two of them to the floor.

"Ignorant Human!" she shouted. She launched a lift at him, sending him into the air. She stood up.

"Now out of my sight." She said. She launched a throw at him, sending him into the table where Frank was playing. He toppled the table, scattering cards everywhere. Also revealing that Frank was cheating.

"Uh... I can explain." Said Frank half heartedly.

"Get him!" Shouted the marines. They chased him out of the bar.

The matriarch walked towards him.

"Even your biotics can't best an Asari." She said while looking down at him.

"But I can." Alex said with Resolve. He jumped to his leg, wobbling a little. He drew his fists.

"One on one?" He asked. The matriarch launched a swift kick to his legs, causing him to fall to the floor.

"No." She replied. She beckoned to the other Asari, who followed behind her. I walked towards Alex. He was unconscious on the floor.

"Get up Alex." I said.

"Ugh." He mumbled.

"At least lower your weight, I can't pick you up." I said.

He covered himself half heartedly in biotic energy. He was a lot lighter. I placed him over my shoulder.

"Time to go I think." I said.

* * *

><p><em><strong>6 hours later<strong>_

_**Arcturus commons Hotel-room 343**_

_**Frank's POV**_

"Wake up!" I shouted to him.

"Fuck you." Mumbled Alex.

"Ah. Still hungover? I could pull the fire alarm." I suggested.

"I could throw you out the window." Mumbled Alex.

"Except you're too hungover." I reminded him.

"All right. Listen, get me a raw egg, 25g of coffee, some water and some jalapeños" Said Alex.

"I'll check the bar down stairs." I said. I walked out of the hotel room and headed towards the elevator. Inside it was a few marines arguing about something inane and a smartly dressed officer clearly annoyed at them. _Awkward..._

I entered, the button for the ground floor had all ready been pressed.

"All right, in order, The consort, Councillor Tevos and Deus Ex." Said one of the marines.

"Why the heck is the councillor even on there?" Asked another.

"You have to admit she's kind of hot." Said the marine.

"Dude, she's like...600 odd." Said another marine.

"Oh come on. That's only like...40 for us." Said the marine.

There was a brief pause before everyone burst out laughing.

"Ha! Enjoy a old bird hey Kowalski?" Asked one of the marines.

"That's not what I meant!" The marine shouted. To the great relief of both me and the officer the doors opened to the ground floor. I stepped out of the elevator, and headed towards the hotel bar.

"Excuse me?" I asked to the bartender.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Do you have a raw egg, 25g of coffee, some water and some jalapeños?" I asked.

"Hangover cure?" Asked the bartender.

"Yeah..." I replied.

"Hang on a second." Said the bartender. He ducked under the bar top and began searching for items.

"Here you are." He said.

"Thanks." I replied. I turned around.

And a enormous explosion forced me to the floor. I fell on my arse, the ground tremble, and I was deafened. The glass of the hotel was smashed, and a fire was raging outside. People were running towards it, trying to look for people. I got to my feet and walked towards the bomb-site. Several cars were overturned, but the centre of the explosion itself was a single hover car only 50ft from where I was standing. All the bottles of booze were completely obliterated. A piece of scorched paper fell from the sky. I grabbed it. In the distance sirens could be heard. I looked down on the piece of paper.

"That was for Torfan. Expect more." Read the paper.

I ran back towards the stairs, knowing the elevator would be out of order.

* * *

><p>"What the hell was that!" Shouted Scott. I as about to enter the room where we were staying.<p>

"An explosion of some kind." Said Elizabeth. I entered the room, they were all looking out of the window, staring at the carnage below.

"Frank was down there..." Muttered Alex in shock.

"I was." I said, they turned around.

"What the hell happened down there?" Asked Alex shocked. _No hello?_

"A explosion, probably from a car bomb." I replied.

"Anyone killed, injured?" Asked Jesse.

"I got out of there before I could check." I replied.

"Mother of..." Muttered Jesse.

"Do you have any idea who could have done this?" Asked Scott absent mindedly to himself.

"Actually, now that you mention it, there was this." I said, showing the group the piece of paper.

"hmm. A letter would suggest it's a definite terrorist attack. And I don't like the sound of the "Expect more." it mentions Torfan..." Said Scott.

"All points lead to Batarians, but for a batarian to get through security... it would be easier for them to drop an asteroid here." Said Alex.

"We better get this to the cops." I said.

"Yeah." Replied Elizabeth. "This might affect the induction ceremony."

"It might affect the whole Alliance Parliament." Said Jesse.

"Then there isn't a moment to lose." Said Alex. "We've got to go now."

And with a nod of the head, we followed him out of the door and towards the staircase.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One hour later<strong>_

_**Arcturus Security HQ**_

"This is troubling evidence recruit." Said the Police officer. "All of it points to Batarians."

"Except they would usually pull off more of a scorched earth attack than a simple car bomb." Alex said.

"But it does promise more, and there are no demands." Said the police officer.

"Someone trying to make it seem like it's batarians?" I asked.

"Perhaps. It's not enough for any kind of idea yet." Said the police officer. He turned to his partner.

"Get the Batarian expert in here now." Said the police officer. The partner shook his head and left the interrogation room.

"We have to work out where the next hit will be and who is pulling this off." Said the Police officer.

"Is there any way we can help?" Jesse Asked.

"I'm not sure. Save that for the batarian expert." Said the police officer.

"Who's that?" Asked Scott.

The partner returned, following him was a short angry looking army sergeant and a red headed women wearing black N7 armour behind him.

"Attention!" Shouted the sergeant. We instinctively stood at attention. Scott saluted, whilst Alex slouched slightly.

"Sergeant McCoy and Lieutenant Shepard, meet private Grimes, Pierce, Dawson, Morely and Miller." introduced the police officer.

"At ease." Said Shepard.

"Commander Shepard?" Asked Alex under his breath.

"Commander?" She replied.

"Nothing ma'am, thought you were someone else." Said Alex.

"Well I recognise a posh git like you Dawson." Said the sergeant.

"Sir, we did see each other last a month and a half ago." Said Alex.

"And I haven't kicked your arse since, so shut it." Said McCoy. "It comes to no surprise that I find you in a police station."

"They are witnesses to the hotel bombing." Said the Police officer. "They also found this."

He handed them the slip of paper, and they read it.

"Batarians, defiantly batarians." Said McCoy.

"Really? Look at the handwriting. To neat for the average terrorist." Said Shepard.

"And in a rare batarian dialect." Reminded McCoy. "How many people do you know that speak Batariannesse local to the Bahak system?"

"Good point." Said the commander. _I mean lieutenant._

"Ma'am? Sir?" Asked Scott. "We want to do everything we can to help put a stop at this."

"A couple of green bellied recruits? Leave it to the professionals kids." Said McCoy.

"Man's got a point. What he heck makes you think you can help?" Asked Shepard.

"A plucky can do attitude and a keen sense of justice?" Asked Alex.

"I can see why McCoy here doesn't like you. I'm starting to agree with him." Said Shepard.

"Drinks are on me?" Asked Alex sceptically.

"Welcome aboard." Said Shepard, arm reaching out to shake Alex's.

"Let's catch a killer." Said Alex. Grabbing Shepard's hand and Shaking it.

_I get the feeling we are going to regret this incredibly._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Arcturus Marines Bar<strong>_

_**Alex's POV**_

_**Thirty minutes later**_

"Why are we in a bar?" I asked.

"Looking for clues." replied the Commander. _Lieutenant!_

"Right... And why have the others gone off with McCoy?" I asked.

"Because he doesn't like you. Besides, you promised me a drink." Replied Shepard.

We sat down at the bar. Shepard beckoned the barkeeper.

"Aren't you on duty?" I asked.

"Aren't you back chatting a superior officer?" Asked Shepard.

"Don't you want your drink?" I asked.

"Do you want to be shot in the head?" Asked Shepard. I tried to think of a come back. I couldn't.

"You win this round." I said.

"And you are paying for this round." Said Shepard. "Hey everyone! Drinks are on him!" Shouted Shepard pointing to me. I received a round of applause from almost everyone in the bar.

"Fuck you Shepard." I muttered. The bartender arrived.

"So you're paying?" he asked. "Hey? Aren't you that guy who fought that matriarch yesterday?"

"No. That was my identical twin brother, who isn't on duty." I replied. The bartender shook his head in disapproval.

"What will it be?" He asked.

"Vesper. And what everyone else had already ordered." Said Shepard.

"And for you." Asked the Bartender to me.

"Scotch." I replied.

"No you won't. You're on duty." Said Shepard.

"That will be 1400 credits please." Said the bartender.

"Oh that's bloody brilliant!" I shouted exasperated. I handed over the credit chit I had on me. Almost an entire months pay.

"Thanks for that Dawson. That was selfless. Now check out the odd person out and report back to me." Said Shepard.

I gave a sigh and stood up. I looked around the bar. It was almost exactly the same as yesterday. Tables filled with Alliance marines, a few Asaris and a batarian.

_A batarian? I'll have a word with him._

"Excuse me?" I asked to the lone batarian, walking over to his table.

"Yeah?" he asked me. "What is it human?"

I sat down next to him.

"Ever been to the Arcturus commons hotel?" I asked.

"You think they'd let my kind there?" He asked.

"I wouldn't think you would even be aboard this station, but you have clearly proven me wrong all ready." I said. "So. Ever been?"

"What's this about?" Asked the batarian.

"...What's your name?" I asked.

"Gorusk, Gorusk Folin." Replied the Batarian.

"Well, Gorusk." I said. "This morning a car bomb went off. It killed eleven people and injured twenty more." I said. "And it had a note written by a Batarian. You the first and only Batarian I've seen on Arcturus."

"I haven't done anything." Said the Batarian coldly.

"Then you won't mind if I bring you in for questioning?" I asked.

The batarian shrugged his shoulders, the yawned. In one quick movement, his hand reached to his trousers and he brought out a pistol and laid it one the table. No one else saw it.

"You leave me alone, and I wont be forced to kill you and everyone In this place." Said Gorusk. "Got it?"

"Uh huh." I replied. I would like to say I did something bad ass, like punch him in the mouth and shoot him in the leg with his own gun. Instead I wet myself a little. Thank god I was wearing armour.

"Now. I'm going to get down from this table and walk away. You are going to sit here for a few seconds, and then return to that whore of a commanding officer." He said pointing to Shepard.

"You won't get away with this." I said.

"I haven't done anything. Remember?" He said. He stood up, grabbed his glass and took a swig of Batarian Ale. "Thanks for the drink."

Then he walked away.

For about three seconds. I drew my pistol and shoot him twice in the leg.

"AH!" He screamed.

"Now, Mr Gorusk. If you want to live, I can get a doctor for you. But you'll have to come with me." I said, The gunshots had gained the attention of everyone in the room. I needed to not cause a scene.

"Another round on her!" I shouted, pointed at Shepard.

"Oh shit." She muttered. There was another round of applause. During this I walked away. Shepard quickly paid the bartender and ran towards me. I was all ready twenty feet out of the bar, when I allowed the Batarian to sit down.

"Got any Medi-Gel?" I asked her.

"Got 1400 credits?" Asked Shepard.

"No, had to pay for a round of drinks." I replied. She leant down and turned on her omni-tool, She applied a white gel to the gunshot wounds on Gorusk.

"Now, let's bring him in." I said.

"Wait a second." Said Shepard. She stood up and walked around a corner. She then began to throw up. After a few seconds she returned.

"Right. Let's go." She said.

_Professional my arse..._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Arcturus Stations Security HQ<strong>_

_**30 minutes later  
><strong>_

"So... Mr Gorusk, why did you threaten to kill this recruit here." Asked Shepard.

"I don't have to answer shit." Said Gorusk.

"Maybe not. But we could also say you fell out of a air lock." threatened Shepard.

"Y eah right." Said Gorusk.

"Dammit you!" I shouted, punching the table. "Every second we waste hundreds of people could die!"

"...What the hell are you talking about?" Asked Gorusk.

"The Terrorist attacks you did outside the hotel." I said.

"That? No, I hadn't done that." Said Gorusk.

"Prove it." Said Shepard, leaning in towards him.

"I was working down at the docks. You can Matriarch Serena about it." He replied.

"Oi! Cop!" Shouted Shepard.

"Yeah?" Asked a police officer.

"Put in a call to Matriarch Serena, ask her about Gorusk's whereabouts at 10:00am today." Asked Shepard. The police officer nodded and left the interrogation room.

"You know that if we find your guilty, there will only be a show trial No jury in the world would ever let you go free." Said Shepard.

"And yet, when you find me not-guilty, you are going to watch as Arcturus burns." Said Gorusk.

The police officer returned and beckoned to us to leave the room. We got up and closed the door behind us.

"Afraid I've got some bad news. Matriarch Serena and her automated sign in system says that Gorusk hadn't left his work until 2 o'clock in the afternoon." Said the cop.

"Sabotage?" I asked.

"Unlikely, Matriarch Serena's word says otherwise." Said the police officer.

"What if she's lying?" Asked me and Shepard.

"She wouldn't. She has nothing to gain. Besides, diplomatic immunity. You can't question her." Said the police officer.

"I beg to differ. Keep him in there, we'll talk to Matriarch Serena." Said Shepard.

"No you won't." Bellowed a voice. We turned around. Behind us was Commander Martin.

"We don't have jurisdiction over Thessia. And neither do you Lieutenant." Said the Commander.

"And more people will die if we don't." reminded Shepard.

"None of us can touch the matriarch." Said the commander. "Now, under law we can't keep him here for more then 20 hours without proof. If you can't find some more evidence linking him to the bombings within 15 hours we'll have to let him go."

"All right sir, Perhaps McCoy and the others have found something." Said Shepard. The Commander nodded and walked away.

"We have to find something that links Gorusk to the bombings. But what?" Asked Shepard.

"i think we need to pay this Matriarch a visit." I said.

"i like the way you think Dawson." Said Shepard.

"It's Alex." I said.

"Amelia." She replied. "Time to nail this Asari."

I gave her a few seconds to work that out.

"I meant..." Said Shepard.

"Shall we go?" I asked.

"Yeah." She replied. We began to walk towards the entrance. Various Cops were working on terminals, filing reports, or just browsing the internet. They were wearing their light uniform. We were wearing armour. There's a reason this is important.

Because as we began to enter the lobby the entire office floor exploded. Me and Shepard instinctively dived for cover. The shields held most of the damage. After a tense twelve seconds me and Shepard stood up.

A fire was roaring nearby. Near us was a body, sans the torso. People were screaming, crying, shouting. In the distance the wail of fire engines could be heard. I ran towards the interrogation room nearby. The entire wall had been wiped out. I entered the husk of the room. In it were to burnt corpses. The commander and Gorusk.

"I think I'm going to be sick." I mumbled.

"Well. It would seem that we've lost our prime suspect." Said Shepard.

* * *

><p><em><strong>To be continued. <strong>_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Mass & Energy**_

_**Chapter Six: AWOL Part deux: Entropy wins**_

_**Shepard's POV**_

_**3 minutes after the explosion**_

"You sure you two are all right?" Asked the Fireman. He had wrapped a blanket around me and the newbie.

"We're fine. Please. We have to stop this." Said Alex weakly.

"Not you. You get some rest. I'll get the others to help." I said. The man was young, and new at this. He wasn't ready for the blood, or the death. He needed some sleep clearly.

"You sure? I can still help." He said weakly.

"If I need you I'll get one of your mates to call." I said with a smile. The fireman grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Need a ride back to your hotel?" Asked the Fireman.

"I'll walk. I need the air." Said Alex. He got up shakily and began to walk away.

I activated my Omni-tool and called Sergeant McCoy.

"Shepard." He said.

"McCoy." I replied. "Anything popped up?"

"Investigations gone nowhere, heard that they bombed Security?" Asked McCoy.

"Yeah. They've set up a temporary headquarters at rekorki station." I replied.

"Jesus. All right. Got any leads?" Asked McCoy.

"One. Matriarch Serena. Untouchable, but I'm sure no one will mind if she's guilty." I explained.

"Right. Where?" Asked McCoy.

"Docks 23 and 54. Aboard either the ASV Nostra or the ASV Koasa." I replied.

"All right. Me, Jessica and Frank will take the Koasa, you, Scott and Elizabeth take the Nostra." Said McCoy.

"Good plan. Meet back within two hours." I said.

I walked away from the blown up husk of the security headquarters, my mind going processing what was happening. About a hundred people dead here. 17 in the previous attack. The next one , if it followed this trend, was going to be massive. _And time was running out._

* * *

><p><em><strong>At the ASV Nostra<strong>_

_**Docking bay 23**_

"Hello." Said a young asari sat at the desk. "Do you have an appointment with the Matriarch."

_Ah. Confirmation the Matriarch is actually here._

"She has an appointment with the law ma'am. We'd like to ask a few questions." I explained.

"I'm afraid that's unacceptable. The matriarch has diplomatic immunity, she may only let you ask questions if she so wishes." Replied the Asari.

"It would bring her out of the question, and could save her life." I lied.

The Asari pondered this for a few seconds then nodded.

"I'll call her right away. Just wait here." Explained the Asari. She walked off towards the sleek blue Asari ship. It was the size of a small frigate. Workers of many races were lodaing and unloading Cargo from the ship.

"Why are the Asari here any way?" Asked Scott.

"The Alliance is hoping to extradite a prisoner from Asari space. I think the Matriarch is here to discuss that." I replied.

"Who's the prisoner?" Asked Elizabeth.

"Oh... Someone called Kai Leng." I replied.

Elizabeth's jaw dropped. Scott turned to her with a quizzical look.

"Someone you know?" I asked.

"Uhh... I've heard of him." Replied Elizabeth.

"Really? What about?" I asked.

"He's a ex N7 marine. Like you Lieutenant, but got kick out for murder." Answered Elizabeth. "No one heard him since."

"Well. He's a prisoner of Thessia now." I said. "And soon ours."

"Yeah." She said, scratching the back of her neck. "Yeah."

The Asari secretary came back, and in tow was an old majestic purple skinned asari, who carried with her a air of wisdom and slight disgust.

"Serena, this is Lieutenant Shepard." Said the secretary. I reached out my hand. She didn't shake it.

"Why are you here Lieutenant?" Asked Serena.

"I want to ask you about an employee of yours. You said that Gorusk Folin was working here at 9:57." I asked.

"Yes. He was loading boxes onto the MSV Hyperion." Replied Serena. _I have to be careful about how I phrase this._

"What was in those packages?" I asked. _Real smooth Shepard._

"I don't have to answer questions like that from the likes of you." Said Serena. "I want you out of here within five minutes, or I'm throwing you out."

"Go ahead. Make my day." I said. I stared into her eyes. She stared into mine.

"I could crush you with a thought Lieutenant. And I'd get away with it." Said Serena.

"I could "Accidentally" shoot you in the leg. And I'd get away with it." I replied.

"Commander. This isn't worth it. Let's go." Said Elizabeth. _Why do these people keep calling me Commander?_

"If I have any clue you are our prime suspect Serena, I will come down on you like a sack of bricks." I said.

We walked away.

"So, we have no leads. No hints. No clues, and no suspects." I shouted as we left the dock. "Can anything go right!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Frank's POV<strong>_

_**Dock 56**_

_**.**_

_You know, we shouldn't even really be doing this. We are just a bunch of recruits, how ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Trust Alex to try and manipulate this into a excuse for Shepard to hire us later. Brilliant. _

We walked towards Dock 54, which contained the Asari ship "ASV Koasa.". Various workers were unloading crates very carefully from it. We turned to a Asari Secretary.

"Hello how may I help you?" Asked the Secretary.

"Is Matriarch Serena here?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not. She's at the ASV Nostra. If you want I can arrange an appointment/" Said the Asari.

"That won't be necessary ma'am. We've got someone over there right now." Said Sergeant McCoy.

"Indeed. Well, sorry to ask, but if you can..." Started to say the Asari.

"Can I check aboard this ship?" Asked McCoy.

"Certainly not. You'd need a warrant for that." Said the Secretary.

"Yeah... Franklin, Jessica, climb aboard and ask questions." Said McCoy. We nodded and headed towards the sleek blue ship.

"You can't do that!" Shouted the secretary getting out of her chair.

"You said that I couldn't go aboard. Now, it'd be a shame if I had to bring you in on obstruction of justice." Said McCoy.

_This isn't legal in the slightest but whatever._

I walk through the open Cargo bay. They were various people, mostly cheap Batarian labour, trying to stay out of our way. I opened one of the crates. Inside was a 50kg of food. I walked towards the next one and opened it. The same. But I looked behind the crate. There was a Batarian, a young looking one too, writing something on a piece of paper. I walk around careful not to be heard by him, and looked over his shoulder.

_Unless the Asari backs out of talks, we'll go for the Parliament nex..._

_Holy crap._

"Excuse me there." I said nonchalantly. The Batarian stood up in shock. "Don't worry. I was just wondering, where's the bathroom?" I asked.

He turned away from me and raised his arm.

Acting quickly, I kicked him in the back. His arms fell behind his back. I slapped some handcuffs on them.

"You are under arrest for suspicion of carrying out terrorist attacks against Arcturus station. You don't have to say anything but It may harm you're defence." I said.

"Fuck." Muttered the young batarian.

"Going to come with us quietly?" I asked. The batarian nodded.

"Good. Stay in front of me." I said, my pistol digging into his back. We calmly walked away and Towards McCoy.

"Got a suspect sir. Was writing this." I said, handing him the note.

"...Hmm. Good work Frank. Let's take him to rekorki station, we need to ask you a few questions blinky." Said McCoy.

"On it sir." I replied.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One hour later<strong>_

_**Rekorki Station**_

"So. You say your name is Toik Forz?" Asked McCoy. The young batarian nodded.

"Do you admit to writing this note?" Asked McCoy. The batarian didn't say anything. "Unless the Asari backs out of talks, we'll go for the parliament next. Or in your tongue, "Fyoud azurilc retrts derf convo, logd tri deft hegemony proxish."

The batarian still said nothing.

"So far 50 people are dead, hundreds more injured. If you don't talk I'll be force to "Encourage" you." Said McCoy.

The batarian looked away from the three of us.

"TALK TO ME!" Shouted McCoy.

"I...Wrote that. But I was told to." Said the batarian.

"Good. Who?" Asked McCoy.

"I can't...They'd kill me." Said Toik.

"I'll kill you right here if you don't." Said McCoy not even hesitating.

"...A man approached me as I arrived here a week ago. Told me he needed a linguist." Explained Toik.

"What race?" I asked.

"Human." Said the batarian. I froze for a second. _A human would launch terrorist attacks here? At Arcturus?_

"Who was he working for?" Asked McCoy.

"I don't know. He had this logo on his shirt though. A hollow diamond inside another hollow diamond, but with some of the bottom removed. It was orange." Explained Toik.

"Cerberus!" I shouted. McCoy stared at me.

"Who the heck are Cerberus?" Asked McCoy.

_Of course. We are a few years before they start their obvious experiments, or even start their private army. _

"Not important." I said. I turned to the batarian. "Toik. Where's the next target?" I asked.

"The Parliament. But I don't know when." Said the batarian. _I went through a hundred scenarios in my head. But I couldn't think of anything._

Suddenly my Omni-tool rang. I looked at it. _Alex the twat _read the number.I answered it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hello. Shepard kicked me off the case, so I'm heading to the parliament for the induction ceremony. You think you'll be able to join me?" Asked Alex.

And then it all fell into place. Alliance high command, Hundreds of recruits, and Admiral fraking Hackett. It would be disastrous. But how would they get it in? Unless.

"Alex. Someone at the ceremony will be a suicide bomber for Cerberus. Their trying to stop a man called Kai Leng extradited. Get the heck out of there, I going to get the cops." I said.

"Crap." Mumbled Alex. "If we do that we'll alert the bomber. He'd either blow us all up or get away. We'd need to be far more careful. I'm going in. I'll call Shepard." Said Alex.

"What is it Frank?" Asked McCoy.

"Their going for the induction ceremony in twenty minutes. We have to go now." I shouted.

"Then we haven't a moment to lose!" Replied McCoy. "Let's go."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

I entered the Alliance parliament's arboretum. It was packed with about 500 people, soldiers, their families, high ranking military personal and even the president.

_How the bloody hell are we going to find one terrorist in here?_

"Alex? Got your call. Are you at the parliament?" Asked Shepard over my Omni-tool. I pulled it to my mouth.

"Yes. But it's packed. I need to get everyone out or get the terrorist." I said. "Where are you?"

"We'll be there in five." She replied.

"I'm going to try to find him or her." I said. I began to walk through the crowd, looking for those particularly jumpy, or that were holding something in their hands.

Cause when people are about to go on stage with five hundred people watching they usually get a little jumpy.

I continued walking.

_Why would Cerberus do this? Surely they want Kai Leng cleared. And they probably have more agents in the Alliance then in the Asari Republics. This doesn't make any sense._

_Unless they want to kill Hackett? Perhaps... But they are pro humanity. They wouldn't kill him until he became a enemy, like in Mass Effect 3._

I kept on walking through the crowd. No one was a obvious terrorist. I was half way through the crowd.

"And Private Coates of the ninth infiltrators, for his defence of the colony of Crossus." Said Admiral Hackett. I looked to him. And spotted a very faint red spot on his head. I wouldn't have done anything, except for the part were it was very slightly shaking. Giving the small size of the shakes the assassin would have to be near, and in one of the private boxes.

I quickly scanned the boxes, true enough, inside one of them, on the 8th floor was a dark clothed man holding something with two hands. _Worth a shot..._

I raised my pistol, causing a few shrieks of surprise. _Quite literally._

I fired 7 shots. The entire audience started to flee, and not one of the shots had connected to the assassin, but the the glass of the box cracked, and he was running for his life.

_Oh no you don't._

"Shepard! It's Dawson. Assassin exiting box 14 inside the parliament arboretum, get there now!" I shouted.

"On it." She responded. I ran through the crowd. It took me a while to get pass the chaotic mess, and a few people had tried to tackle me to the ground, seeing as I had randomly opened fire in a military parade. But biotic pull is very usual for pacifying people. I ran into the reception and up the stairs. The higher I got the less people I ran into. At the third floor I ran into the assassin. He reached for his pistol, but I was quicker, biotically pulling it out of his hands. The assassin responded with a sweep of his legs, knocking me down the stairs a little. He immediately ran into a nearby corridor.

"No you don't." I muttered as I got up. I ran up the stairs and turned into the corridor. The assassin was to far away to launch another pull. I broke into a sprint. I was fast, but the assassin was faster. He took a sharp turn left five metres ahead of me, right into one of the viewing boxes. I heard the sound of breaking glass. _Smashing._

I walked into the room. True enough, the assassin was on the ground, somehow surviving a drop from fifteen metres up. _Two can play at that game._

I walked back, focusing on the door. I then broke into a sprint, and dived through it. As I fell through the air I lightened myself, gently landing on the ground.

"Stand back!" Shouted the assassin, walking backwards, with a obvious limp.

"Look. I'm not going to kill you." I said.

"You want revenge! Is that it?" Asked the assassin quite scared.

"I don't kill for revenge mate." I said.

The assassin got the sniper rifle off his back.

"In the time it would take you to scope and shoot I can send you flying across the room." I said.

"You're not that good." Said the assassin. He lowered the rifle slightly. "And besides, who said I had to scope?"

As he said that he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into my leg. _Holy Crap that hurts!_

I went to my knees. The assassin placed the rifle against my head.

"Step away from the rookie!" Shouted a female voice. I looked up. Sure enough, in the entrance to the arboretum, was Lieutenant Shepard, Jessica, Frank, Scott, Elizabeth and Sergeant McCoy.

The assassin aimed his sniper rifle towards Shepard.

"One move and I shoot the Chick right in the head." Shouted the assassin. _Hang on a second..._

Seeing my chance, I reached out and grabbed both of the assassin's legs. I pulled as hard as I could, sending him tumbling to the floor and causing him to drop his sniper rifle. I gingerly stood up and picked it up.

The others ran over to the assassin.

Shepard was the first to react, picking him up by the scruff of his collar and asking:

"Who are you working for?"

"Humanity." Responded the Assassin. _Cerberus. Defiantly Cerberus. Can't let them know that yet. Could cause...Complications._

"Why did you try to kill Admiral Hackett?" I asked calmly.

"Humanity needs a leader. A hero. That scarred incompetent couldn't a scout group." Replied The assassin.

"Hackett? He's one of the best military minds of the 22nd century." Said McCoy.

"Beacons for the Deluded! He'll lose earth to the aliens! They'll take it away!" Shouted the assassin.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Asked Frank.

"He's clearly insane." I said, pretending not to notice the obvious foreshadowing. "This idiot isn't worth our time. Call the cops."

"Wait. Then you wouldn't find my final gift." He said. We all stared at him.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Shepard.

"One more bomb. Won't kill _That_ many people, but they are deaths on your head, lieutenant." Said the Assassin. "Give me five hours head start, and you can save them."

Shepard thought this over for a few seconds.

"If I let you go... People won't die." She asked.

"If you can defuse the bomb in time, yes." He said. Shepard let go of him. "But you can't call the cops for five hours, or I will detonate it."

"I'll let you go." She said. McCoy stared at her with a look of disgust. "Where is it?"

"The ship MSV Hyperion." He said. He began to walk away. "I'll see you in five hours." He turned his back.

Shepard raised her pistol.

"I'll give you five seconds." She said, and fired a shot into his head, killing him instantly. I looked at Shepard with a mix of horror and quiet admiration. _Nice one liner._

"What? We have a bomb to defuse people!" She shouted.

And with that, we walked towards the exit, or in my case, limped. _Need some bloody Medi-Gel._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fifteen minutes later<strong>_

_**Outside Dock 7**_

"The Hyperion is inside, and cops are on the way." Explained Shepard. "But we have no idea when the bomb is supposed to go off."

"So we are going to go in there and get everyone out." Explained McCoy. We nodded.

"If we make I out of this I am giving you four medals." Added McCoy. We went through the door.

"There's five of us." I said.

"I know Dawson." He said. "Only four of you deserve medals."

"I got shot in the leg! It still hurts!" I said.

"Quit whining." Said McCoy.

"Everyone! There's a bomb on the ship!" Shouted Shepard. A few people looked up from moving crates, and shrugged and returned back to work.

"We're checking for drugs!" Shouted McCoy. Everyone started to make a rush for the exits of the dock.

"Huh." He said. "Didn't think that would work."

"Check all the crates. Look for any bulky electrical devices!" ordered Shepard. I beckoned to my friends as Shepard and McCoy checked the crates outside.

"Check the crates, I'm going for the CIC." I said.

The group nodded, and I entered the elevator. The ship only had two floors, one for the cargo bay and the other for everything else.

I looked around. The entire deck was dull metallic. There was very little in the way of decorations. I walked towards the pilot's seet.

"Hello-Searching-Alliance Marine Alexander Dawson." Said the on-board VI.

"Guys. We found the bomb. It's massive. There's no timer." Said Elizabeth over the radio. _Crap. Hang on..._

"Try to disarm." Said Shepard.

"...Damn. Wont accept Omni-gel. Needs a manual override." Said Elizabeth.

"That bomb could explode at any second. Commander, Sergeant, get out of here, guys, stay if you want, but I am getting this ship out of here." I said.

"What... Belay that order." Said Shepard.

"Sorry Lieutenant. But I have to think about the people." I said.

"I'm staying." Said Scott.

"Me too." Said Elizabeth.

"Aye." Said Frank.

"Let's do it." Said Jessica.

"Get into the cockpit." I said. "VI, close the cargo bay door and prep for launch."

"Sir. You are not the registered captain of this vessel." Responded the VI.

"I'll deal with that." Said Elizabeth as she ran towards me. She got out her Omni-tool and began to...Do something for a few seconds.

"New Captain-Alexander Julian Dawson. Welcome aboard Captain." Said The Vi.

"Get this ship out of here!" I shouted.

"Certainly." Responded the VI.

"Dawson! Don't throw your life away on a chance it will detonate!" Shouted Shepard.

"Sorry Ma'am. Die for the cause." I said.

"Good luck marine. It's been a honour." She said. The connection suddenly cut off.

"Right. VI. Get us to the relay!" I ordered.

"I thought we were going to stop it from..." Said Jesse.

"Hey. If we survive..." I said.

"Course plotted. Auto pilot enabled." Said the VI.

"Everyone bunker down and grab something." I said.

We all grabbed various parts of the ship.

"You sure it's going to explode soon?" Asked Elizabeth.

"The assassin wouldn't have used it as a threat otherwise." I said. "But we'll have..."

I never finished that sentence. A huge explosion tore it's way through the ship. Acting within nano seconds the VI contained the only inhabited area of the ship, the cockpit. The ship was torn apart. Only 1km away from the nearest Relay. Someone would later write that marines Alexander Dawson, Frank Grimes, Scott Miller, Elizabeth Morely and Jessica Pierce sacrificed themselves to save the people inside docks 5,6,7,8,9 and the Sunny side nursery above the docks. They were heroes. All though dead ones.

.

.

.

Just as planned.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Wow that took a long time to write. Serious writers block there. Don't worry, I have a plan for the next couple of chapters, let there never be as large a delay as that again. Just would like to promote two fics, Mass Affect 2: The wild bunch, a fantastic humorous (Mostly) fic, and a new one, Insert Mass Effect joke here. Good night everyone.<strong>_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Mass & Energy One**_

_**Chapter Seven: Steeled themselves**_

_Your Forefathers wisely set aside their compassion. Steeled Themselves for what...Needed to be done._

_Prophet of Truth-2552_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Citadel Control agent 234- Johik Rojvik<strong>_

"You're cleared for landing." I said for the two hundredth time that day. The citadel Mass Relay was one of the busiest in the galaxy. Hundreds of ships come and go, supplying food, smuglling contraband or just hopeful visitors looking for adventure. I sighed as a small ship exited the Mass Relay. A quick scan said it was the MSV Hyperion.

"MSV Hyperion, do you have a dock?" I asked.

There was silence on the other end. I twitched slightly in my seat. _That's never good._

"MSV Hyperion? Please respond." I said.

There was just static.

_Ah. A wreckage. Finally something interesting. _I brought up the feed from Buoy. All I saw was a piece of barely flying scrap metal.

"...This...Is Captain Alexander Dawson. My people are injured and this ship is wrecked. We need immediate medical attention." Said a human male voice through the intercomm. His voice was quiet and very strained. He clearly was in a lot of pain.

"Sir. Calm down. Is your ship flyable at all?" I asked.

"Negative. It's just the cockpit." Replied the Human. "We were lucky to make it through the mass relay."

"All right. I'll get a shuttle out there as quick as I can." I said. "Just stay calm, breath slowly. Don't waste to much oxygen."

"Please." Said the Human. "There are four other people in here."

"Help is coming sir, just stay calm." I replied.

"How long?" Asked the human.

"A few minutes. It's best you don't waste oxygen by talking to me." I answered.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

_**Aboard the wreckage of the MSV Hyperion**_

I put down the communicator. All was going swimmingly. As soon as I get out of the hospital I'll have to make _Another_ false identity. But it seems I'll be able to fake my death quite well. Of course, if I do ever join Shepard, that might cause problems. But I was just another Private. I doubt she'll even remember my name.

But of course, that's irrelevant.

The rest of the crew, all four of them, were either knocked out or to tired to do anything. But the immense pain from my bullet wound had kept me awake. I had to get to a hospital. There's only so much Medi-Gel can do. I closed my eyes.

_I need some sleep._

I gave myself a slap.

_You'll sleep when your dead!_

I laid there, and considered some things.

_Isn't Shepard going to notice us in a few years? How much am I going to have to pay for another fake ID? How long until this wreckage runs out of oxygen?_

I reached into my pocket. True enough, it had the key to our storage room. I stored my long coats, credit chits, pistols and my possessions in there. But it's irrelevant.

I locked out the cockpit window. I saw a small shape heading towards us. Then stared. In all my time here, I'd never just... Looked at the Citadel. The giant Destiny Ascension guarding it all, the great purple nebula. It was beautiful.

I heard the clank of metal, as something hits the ship. After a minute the door of the cockpit opened. Connected to the ship was a ambulance.

"Command, we have five humans, prep for emergency." Said a medic as he looked at us.

"Roger that. Take them to Zakera Hospital." Said a male voice over the medic's comms.

"Can you walk?" Asked the Medic to me. I shook my head.

"Right. Hey Derik! He've got to get five people to hospital." He shouted.

I decided that my purpose was finished. I closed my eyes.

_Hey! Your not dead!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Zakera Ward's hospital wards<strong>_

_**Jesse's POV**_

I opened my eyes. Above me was a white ceiling. I was in a bed surrounded by some kind of curtain. _Hospital._

I leaned up right. _Think. Where were you last? There was a... Explosion. Then... We floated through space for a few minutes. I finally blacked out. Oxygen was running low. I was so cold._

"Ah. You're awake." Said a strange voice. A Drell pulled back the curtains. He was wearing a Doctors lab-coat.

"Well dear, it seems you've recovered quite well. I'm afraid we couldn't find any kind of identification on you. What's your name?" Asked the Drell.

Suddenly Alex limped through the door. He was clearly in extraordinary pain, but continued to walk towards me.

"She's Elliot Reed." He said.

"Elliot...Reed." Said the Drell as he signed my chart that sat on the end of my bed. "You sir should return to bed. Did you even take those pills?"

"Tell the others to _Do the same._" Said Alex with a wink. I nodded.

"Get back into your bed sir. I'll deal with you later." Said the Drell. Alex limped his way back down the hall.

"Right. Well Elliot, it seems that you're fine. Limited exposure to the vacuum of space, no obvious injuries. I'll let you out tomorrow." Said the Drell.

"Thank you sir." I said.

"No problem." He said. "Now I have to check on the others, but call if you need anything." Said the Drell. And with that he started to go around the other beds.

My Omni-tool vibrated, and I looked at it.

_You out tomorrow? _Asked Alex via text.

_Yes. _I replied.

_I need you to take our ID's down to Fist's again. We need new identities. Keep the names the same, but change our place of birth. _Ordered Alex.

_We're faking our death? _I asked.

_Necessary sacrifice. I would do it myself but my leg injury means I'm stuck in here for a few more days. _Replied Alex.

_Fine. Any particularly planet you want to be born on? _I asked.

_Keep it to Eden Prime. _Said Alex. _Sympathy._

_Got it. _I replied.

_See you in three days. _Said Alex.

I leant back into my bed. Elizabeth was still asleep. There was no point staying awake for any longer.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A day later<strong>_

_**Chora's Den**_

I leant back. The same sign of the leaning naked lady. The same metallic double doors. The same everything. I walked into the club. A low bass was playing. Dancers were on tables, on platforms, on laps. _Less on that I think._

"Excuse me, can I talk to Fist?" I asked to a nearby krogan.

"Fist isn't here." Said the krogan.

"Oh. Whose in charge at the moment then?" I asked.

The krogan signalled to office doors. "Go ahead and check."

I nodded to the krogan and walked towards the doors.

I nodded to the same two factory workers.

"Have we meet?" They asked as I walked away. I walked into Fist's office.

"What Want human?" Asked a strange Vorcha. He was immaculately dressed in a three piece suit, and wore a strange toupee.

"You're in charge?" I asked.

"Me smart. Ask again, what you want?" Asked the strange Vorcha.

"Um... If you're smart why do you talk..." I asked before being cut off.

"Uhh. Listen. Translators racist. We talk like animals through them. I speak proper in my tongue." Explained the Vorcha. "Bloody Asari."

"Oh...Kay. Any way, I need a false I.D for five people." I explained.

"Got previous?" Asked the vorcha.

"Yeah. Here." I replied as I handed over my old fake I.D.

"Right... Same planet? Same name?" Asked the Vorcha.

"Sure." I replied.

"Okay. 50,000 credits." Said the Vorcha.

"Here you go." I said as I handed over the credit chit and the photos the five of us had taken last year.

"Five minutes." Said the Vorcha. "Pass me that steak."

"this one?" I asked holding up a slab of meat.

"Sure." Replied the Vorcha. I threw the meat to him.

"Ah Batarian steak," Said the Vorcha.

"You mean, steak from batarian animals?" I asked sheepishly.

"If it helps you sleep at night, sure. Why not." Said the Vorcha. He immediately began devouring the steak.

"Um... I should go." I said eerrily similarly to Commander Shepard.

"I wont keep you." Said the Vorcha between mouthfuls. His toupee began to slide off the top of his head before he re-corrected it. I turned away as the Vorcha began to eat and work at the same time. He was getting bits of _"Batarian steak" _all over the office. I waited patiently for five minutes as the Vorcha began to ask questions.

"Qualifications?" Asked the Vorcha. _Clever bastard, tricking me into spending more money._

"None." I replied.

"Suit yourself. Birth date?" He asked. _Let's see. Its 2182, and I'm 24 so..._

"2158." I said.

"For all of these people?" He asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"All right. Place of birth?" He asked. _Now remember what Alex said._

"Eden Prime." I said.

"Got it. Pick the capital city of it shall I?" He asked.

"Please." I replied.

"Kay. Here your ID's." Said the Vorcha, handing over five small datapads.

"I got 50,000 from you. Can go." Said the Vorcha.

"Thank you." I said. I grabbed the ID's and got out of there. _Once again we are real people here. What are we going to do about work though?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Five days later<strong>_

_**Zakera wards, floor 12**_

"Welcome to our new apartment!" shouted Alex excitedly. I don't know why he did. It was junk. At 250,000 credits, it was cheap. But with only a master bedroom, the rest of us were going to have to sleep in the living room. We needed to decide who slept in the room.

"All right. We have 200,000 credits left. We are going to need to get a job soon." Said Elizabeth.

"I think we need to talk." Said Frank.

"Agreed." Said Scott. We sat on the dingy sofa the previous occupant had left here.

"One and a half years ago I said we should become Mercenaries." Said Alex. "We still have the money to open a merc company out in the terminus. Or we could keep it slightly more legal and run it from here. But we would have to pay some more money."

"I say run it here. There's still a high demand for mercs in Citadel space." Said Elizabeth.

"Very true." I added.

"All right." Said Alex. "But we'd need to spend about 100,0000 credits opening up, advertising ourselves etcetera. We aren't going to have much money for equipment."

"What about buying a ship?" Added Frank.

"Completely out of the question. We can barely afford to eat for the next six months." Said Alex.

"Right. So what about weapons and armour?" I asked.

"We have the armour we were wearing on Arcturus still around. But that's basic recruit stuff. And it's got Alliance symbols on it." Said Frank.

"Just need a spot of paint and a few cheap armour mods and we'd be fine." Said Elizabeth.

"Those are probably pretty cheap." Said Scott.

"All right. For weapons we have those pistols we bought two years ago in storage. Otherwise. We got nothing." I said.

"Yeah. All right, plan for tomorrow. I will go down to storage, grab our stuff and bring it here. Frank, Elizabeth, as engineers your job will be the modifications of our armour. We'll say what colour we want it in in a bit." Said Alex. "Scott and Jesse, you two go down to the market district as well. But us some weapons. We'll make another list for what we need in a bit."

"Got it." Said Frank.

"Okay." Replied Scott.

"Now. One final issue for now. What should our name be?" Asked Alex.

We thought amongst ourselves for a few seconds.

"ODST's?" I suggested.

"What does it stand for?" Asked Alex.

"Uh... Orbital drop shock troopers?" I replied.

"No." Said Alex.

"Inglorious Bosh'tets?" Asked Elizabeth.

"Hmm... none of us are Quarians." Said Alex.

"Torchwood?" Asked Frank.

"Please. That show turned really bad when it got Americanised." Said Alex.

"No it didn't!" Shouted Frank.

"Please. There was so much padding!" Shouted Alex.

"How about "The Mercs who don't do anything."?" Asked Scott.

"That makes us sound lazy." Said Alex.

"Cerberus? Oh..." Said Soctt. Remembering the history lesson we gave him about Mass Effect.

"Charon?" I suggested. The entire group looked at me puzzled.

"The Greek ferry man of the dead." I added.

"The same name as the Sol relay..." Said Elizabeth.

"Hmm... Not too stupid. Makes sense, we are a human merc group. Also connotations with dead things. It's good." Said Alex.

"All in favour." Said Scott.

"Aye." Said everyone.

"All against?" he added for practically no reason.

A silence came over the group.

"Welcome to Charon I guess then." Said Alex. "We'll work on it tomorrow."

"Now would be I good time to end the chapter I guess then." I said.

Frank face palmed.

* * *

><p><em><strong>My writing schedule is awful! I've got a super secret chapter after the next one that many of you reviewers are going TO LOVE! I would like to explain that the writing slips are bound to continue. I am in Exam Season, so lots to do. Maybe the next chapter will be released by June, who knows? I'm trying for every two weeks actually, so let's see if that keeps. Rock on everyone, and stay excellent. <strong>_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Mass & Energy One**_

_**Chapter Eight: Back in the saddle**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

It took us three weeks to even get one offer for our merc group. And that just ended with us watching over a dead corpse. But a week after that we got another offer. This was from a small mining colony in the terminus systems. Civilians were disappearing and the local militia needing training. Not glamorous, not collectors, and not free for us to get there. It costed us three thousand credits just to pay for the inter-galactic bus service to drive us there, and that took four days along the mass relays. We all had to share a tiny room, and as the colony wasn't next to a mass Relay, it was taking a while to get there. We spent most of our time playing cards, sleeping, eating or just... talking. There was no purpose. No structure. It was 01:00 on the ship. And me and Frank were the only ones awake.

"I worry about Scott sometimes." Said Frank out of the blue.

"Why?" I asked.

"You know the rest of us have played Mass Effect right?" Said Frank.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Well. We know that, until the end, everything is going to be all right. We know what's going to happen." Explained Frank. "But Frank... He just has what we tell him, and that's second hand information. He doesn't know who Lia'Vael is. Or Feron. He's in a strange universe, and, even when he is with his friends, he's completely alone."

"... It's been hard on all of us. I gave up money, an easy life. We all gave up our other friends, our parents, our jobs." I said.

"But we understand this universe. Scott doesn't. We always joked about this kind of thing. Hell, you forced me to read that "Insert Mass effect joke here 3" fic. But... Just think about it." Said Frank.

"Your right. We need to find a way home." I said.

"Don't forget that Alex. This isn't our home. No matter how much you like it. No matter how cool it gets. It will never be our home." Said Frank.

"Why would I forget that? I'm rich back home." I said sartorially.

"Because you were bored. We know you were. Without a job, no reason to live. No purpose day to day. Too much freedom means no freedom at all." Replied Frank. "Here you have responsibility. You have purpose. You have a fate. But you must always go home."

_Wow. He can be a real downer at times. Has a point though._

"Tell you what. Once we get home, I'll get a honest to god job." I said.

"We'll have fun here, adventure. But that's not our life. We are normal people. We don't belong here." Added Frank. I turned over in my bunk, away from Frank.

"I'm gonnna go to sleep. Good night Frank." I said. He mumbled something about going to sleep to. I closed my eyes, and forgot the world.

* * *

><p>The thing that one should remember about other planets is that <span>none<span> of them are even close to earth. They always had that one thing that completely separated it from the normal. In this planets case, it was the fact it was in a binary red star system. Both week suns, as such the sky was dimmer then Earth, but there was only one hour of actual darkness, and 6 hours of really brightness, when both suns were close to midday. The days were 35 hours long, the planet was covered in a rocky desert. It was completely...Alien to me. It's almost inconceivable to the average earth person. To imagine what it's really like to live on another planet. Luckily, the atmosphere was very much breathable.

The planet, named Outreach III, was 0.9 times the size of Earth, Compared to the Citadel, every step was easier, and you felt... Lighter. It was a strange sensation. But not entirely unpleasant. The reason the planet had been colonised was the high concentration of Titanium and platinum around the Equator.

We steeped off the shuttle. The two suns shined right onto the space port, leaving nary a single shadow. The port was made of prefabricated buildings cobbled together. Workers were unloading supplies in another hanger nearby. The air was dry. And hot. A man, wearing a simple shirt and jeans combination, began to walk towards us.

"Are you those Mercs we hired?" He asked.

"That's us. Charon at your service." I replied.

"Welcome to Outreach." Said the man. He signalled for us to walked with him. We followed him as he left the port.

"You job here, as we arranged earlier, is to train some of us into soldiers." Said the man.

"I have to ask. What caused this sudden militarisation?" I asked. We walked into a small ageing shuttle.

"People are disappearing. The Aishland mining corporation thinks were too small to defend with their own private fleet. They gave us 70,000 credits and told us to "Buck the fuck up." Dicks." Explained the man. _I'm warming up to him already._

"You chose the right people. Alexander Julian Dawson. At your service." I said with my arm ready to shake his.

"Greg Johnson." He replied shaking my hand.

"So. How many people are we training?" Asked Frank.

"About thirty men and women." Replied Greg.

"Right. Have you got weapons and armour for them?" I asked.

"Sure have. It's probably only a bit worse then yours." Said Greg as he peeked into Scott's armour and weapons bag.

"Maybe so." Replied Scott.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now landing at Sheer point. I hope you have a nice day." Said a voice over the shuttle's inter comm. We grabbed our bags. The doors to the shuttle opened and we were bombarded with the bright light of the two suns. I turn away for a second.

"You people get paid when they're trained and able to defend this place. Until then, you are on your own. I'll see you in a month." Said Greg. I turned back around and walked off the shuttle. The doors closed behind me and it flew off into the distance. I looked at the small town. It was filled with prefabricated houses, a few shops and rusted vehicles. In the just outside the town was a mountain, and a path leading up to it. I assumed this was the mine. The town looked as close to a western as one could get in Mass Effect. It was like walking into a episode of Firefly.

"Well, we better find out where we are staying." Said Elizabeth, ever the voice of reason. I adjusted my long-coat. I already knew that whilst I had gained points for style, this was not the planet for large clothing like this. Shame. We walked into the centre of the small town. A few old men and women were sitting outside the pub, a few shop keepers were fiddling with their extranet connected shop inventories. But otherwise the town was deserted. A large building stood at the opposite end of the town. We walked towards it, assuming it to be the town hall.

The building was unique among the others. Whilst they were built out of plastics and metal, the town hall was pure stone. It was an imposing building, with a flag embellishing the logo of the Aishland mining company. We entered the building. A single clerk was sat at a desk, writing down something on a datapad. I walked towards him.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Yes?" He replied.

"We're the Mercs Greg Johnson hired. He told me earlier we had somewhere to stay?" I asked.

"Let me look into that." Replied the Clerk with a smile. He turned on his Omni-tool and began to scroll down it. After a few seconds he replied with.

"Ah yes. You must be Charon right?" He asked. We nodded.

"You're staying in house 343. It's owner recently disappeared. Without a next of kin, there's no one else to claim it." He answered. _We're staying in a dead guys house? Great._

"Thank you." I said with a nod. We turned away.

"Wait a second!" Shouted the Clerk. We turned to face him.

"The mayor wants to talk to whichever one of you is in charge of your group." Said the Clerk. We looked nervously at each other.

Now, as equal as we all were, there was no way we would be able to operate effectively without a chain of command. Scott and Jesse had wisely backed out of the competition before it even began, but me, Frank and Elizabeth all saw ourselves as possible leaders. We couldn't risk launching into a combat mission without a clear leader, and we simply didn't have the time to wait for three different missions. So, we put the most annoying part of the business as our test. Being a merc takes a surprising amount of paper work. There's advertisement, discussing with clients, contracts, itineraries to collect, inventory to store, weapons and armour to buy, budgets to be managed and insurance forms to be filled. Elizabeth, as a Artist, wasn't cut out for it. Which left Frank, a lawyer, and me, a lazy socialite. But as great a lawyer as Frank is, he failed no less then three insurance forms, forgot to fill out a order for rations and didn't have enough cash to pay for the bus. I on the other hand, succeeded were he failed, making me de-facto leader for the time being.

"I'll go see him. Can you give the directions of the house to them please." I said, realising that if I had asked for the directions for myself they would have failed somehow.

"Sure." Replied the Clerk, and he signalled for me to enter the mayors office. I walked on through.

_Of course, it will be how well me, Frank or Elizabeth train these recruits that will decide who becomes our real leader. I'll just be stuck as the accountant._

I walked into a polished wooden office. The room screamed style and sophistication. The man behind the chair did not. He was a short, muscularly man, wearing a dirty suit that did not suit him in the slightest. He's beady eyes fell on me.

"If your wondering about the office, you can blame the last mayor for that." Said the man. I nodded. He took out a cigar, placed it in his mouth and lit it.

"So. You're in charge of Charon huh?" He asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"Greg Johnson hired you? In case you are wondering, he's my boss. I look after the miners, Philip Faustian looks after the Companies interests and Greg keeps us away from each others throats." Said the mayor.

"Trouble between you to?" I asked respectfully, keeping in mind to lower the poshness of my accent. _Don't want to alienate him._

"You're proof of that. Aishland corporation has the twelfth largest private army in the galaxy, and they send us 100,000 credits to arm and train a local militia." Replied the Mayor. "To say the least I was furious. Threatened to boycott the mine until they did something, lock-down the entire town. Greg reminded me that we needed the food grown further north, and that we'd starve to death."

"Tough break." I said.

"You can say that again. Greg said he'd couldn't promise miracles, and seeing as you can't be older then 27, you're once again proof of that. But at least Aishland agreed to do something." Said the mayor. Ignoring the insult I asked.

"What's been going on. I haven't been told much, Mr...?" I asked.

"Wilkinson. People have been disappearing outside the town. I'd chalk it up to getting lost in the desert, but there were bullet holes in the ground, and scorch marks from grenades. Someone is taking my workers, and I can no longer promise there safety." Replied the Mayor.

"Think it's batarians?" I asked, as they are the usual suspects when it comes to this.

"Not their usual Modus Operadi. They'd take entire colonies and burn then to the ground, not pick off people one by one." Replied the mayor.

"True. Do people usually carry arms out here?" I asked.

"Yeah. Just small ones, like pistols and shotguns. Best way of keeping safe in my opinion." Said the mayor.

"You don't think it may be a Threasher maw?" I asked.

"We use highly sensitive equipment up in the mine to detect deposits of rare minerals. A hyperactive kid building a sand pit could probably set it off. We'd know if there was a Threasher maw." Replied the mayor. I decided to change the subject a little.

"So. We have to train a local militia, with no idea what they'll be fighting or what they are fighting with?" I asked.

"If it makes your job any easier most of them know how to hold a gun a little. They'd be easier to train then some posh kids in England." Said the mayor. _Another snide insult?_

"I'll do the best I can. You have my word." I said. I began to walk out the office.

"Wait!" Wilkinson shouted. I turned around.

"If you have any idea what it is and were it's attacking from, I'll get you involved. And it's best you keep your biotics on the down low out here. No one likes a wizard." Said the Mayor.

Nodding with his words of wisdom, I walked out of the office and back to the clerk, ready to ask where house 343 was...

* * *

><p>By the time I had finally got to the house, the sun was beginning to set. Which, seeing as I arrived in the middle of the day and that was 35 hours long, is longer then you might think. I collapsed onto the settee and gave the house a look around. The house was the bare essentials. All personal effects of the previous owner had been removed, but there were marks were once stood pictures and photos.<p>

"Hey Alex, I'm cooking some Pesto." Said Scott. "How was your talk with the mayor?"

"Interesting. Gave me as much as he could on what we are dealing with. Got some needless exposition too." I replied.

"Huh. What are we dealing with?" Asked Scott.

"Something using guns. That's it." I replied.

"Interesting. Well, Frank wanted to scope out the salon, Jesse and Elizabeth are at the gun store, so it's just you and me." Said Scott.

He brought over two steaming bowls of green pasta. We sat down.

"Scott. I need to ask you about here." I said.

"What do you mean?" He asked. "Outreach?"

"No. Scott. Are you doing okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine." Said Scott.

"Scott. You have been thrown into a universe that you barely know. You haven't even seen the planet you were born and raised in two years. You haven't seen a familiar face other than us in the same amount of time. I don't think you are fine." I shouted.

Scott stopped eating his Pesto.

"You want to know the truth. I hate it here. I hate the aliens! I hate the fact I haven't seen a star for possibly months at a time. I hate that I'm the only one that knows what's going on! I hate that everything I had worked hard to get in 2013 is gone or completely useless!" He shouted.

"Why haven't you told us this?" I asked.

"Because you guys just... Settled in so quickly. You started thinking about stuff 2 years from when we arrived. You wanted to manipulate people I've never heard of. You guys made choices for me that without even telling me of the consequences!" Shouted Scott. "I got shot at!"

"Do you want out?" I asked, speaking before I could think.

"What else would I do? Kill people for money? Beg? Maybe I'd just shot myself in the head. Maybe that will end this fucking nightmare." Said Scott. He placed his head in his hands. _What do I say? _I patted him on the back.

"I'll get you back Scott. I promise." I said.

"What if you do? I'll be god knows how many years older than I should be. I'd have lost 2 years of my life. That's something you can't give me back." Said Scott.

"I'm sorry Scott." I said meekly.

"...No. I shouldn't have lashed out. It's not your fault we are stuck here. And you'll find a way out of here. When you make a promise." Said Scott.

"I keep it. Let's eat." I said.

We tucked into our pesto. Nothing else happened that night. Eventually the others came back empty handed. Scott didn't mention his anxiety to the others, so neither did I. This universe was beginning to take it's toll on us. I slept with the curtains down, so that the dim light of the single red sun didn't go through the windows. We had to wake in 9 hours to train the militia. I think we were ready for a few space westerners.

* * *

><p>The dim light of the distant red sun was casting shadows across the town of Sheer-point. But in the centre of the quiet town, thirty men and women were waiting quietly for the arrival of their trainers. They were the most physically fit and determined of the town, those that work in the mine could be spared until the threat had past. A single, long-coat wearing man walked into the second floor balcony of the Salon.<p>

"Hello people of Sheer-point!" I shouted. "I am Alexander Dawson, and for the next four weeks, I'm going to be your boss."

"You all signed up to become a militia. To stop whatever the hell is taking away innocent people from Sheer-point. And we." I said, signalling behind me as the others of Charon walked onto the balcony. "Are here to help you."

"Now. My friend Frank will go round with a hat. Pick a card out of that and head towards the person holding that number in their hands. I'm number 3 for example." I said as I held up a card saying "3".

Frank exited the salon and began going round with the hat. The four of us heading into the street and split up, holding up our cards in the air. After five minutes the large group of people began to disperse. There was the typical swapping of cards, people just plain ignoring them and sticking with their friends and other things. _It's like bloody PE._

"Call yourself Soldiers! Get into your groups now!" Shouted Elizabeth in her best drill sergeant voice. _Reminds me of McCoy... I hope he's dead._

Eventually the group of thirty people split into five groups of six people. As the other's began to talk to them I did the same.

"I am Alexander Dawson. You shall now be referred to by number. Should you pass my training you will gain a nickname." I said sternly.

A 5ft 7 women with dirty brown hair looked at me as if I was insane.

"I am not a number." Said the women.

"Well done there noble 3, you're my least favourite." I said, reminding myself of the coward of that team. _Couldn't even hit the broadside of a barn._

"Now, I heard that the people of Outreach are complete pussies, scared of getting their hands a little dirty." I said.

"That's BS." Said a green haired black man, with a tattoo of a tear on his check. _Green hair?_

"What was that noble 4?" I asked.

"That's BS sir?" He asked.

"Better." I said. "Now. The six of you are going to give me 30 push ups right now. First one to do it gets to be noble one."

They immediately, though tiredly, got onto the floor and began to give me some push ups. I looked over my group.

First, there were the two people who had all ready spoke up. There were three more guys and another women. The women had Ginger curly hair, and was doing well with the push ups. _Good candidate for Noble One._ _Reminds me of Shepard. _I blocked that thought out of my mind. Then there was this immensely fat man I have no idea how he got fat on a planet where almost everyone was poor, or how he was doing push ups at a rate of one every 2 seconds, but he was good. _He's going to be noble five._ There was another guy. Short, as in about 4ft something. Muscularly though. _Noble 6._ Finally there was the black skinny one. He was slow at push ups, and no doubt would be the last to finish. _Noble two then. He's probably going to be the smart guy._

After a minute, he finally finished.

"All right. Noble one!" I said pointing to the red haired women. "Fetch us the weapons from the table and pass them around the group. We are going into the desert."

"On it Sir." She said. _After two years of "Recruit." "Newbie" and "FNG" that was really odd. _

"Right. The rest of you, name a number from one to four." I said.

"One." Said Noble four. _Shotgun._

"Two." Said Noble five and Six. _Assault rifle._

"Three." Said noble Two. _Pistol._

"Four." Said Noble three. _Sniper rifle._

Noble One arrived dragging a crate full of low quality weapons. I opened it and started passing the weapons out accordingly.

"Do we get any armour?" Asked Noble two.

"Not yet. Let's see how good your shooting skills are." I said. I began to walk out of the town, the six of them following closely behind. _Noble team? Why didn't we pick that as a mercenary name? Kind of cheap though. Just stealing from another franchise. _

_._

A hour later, my Noble team were shooting rocks about a KM out in the desert. They passed test one, actually making that walk. They weren't amazing shots, especially Noble Five. Spraying and praying would suggest that he took a pause, which, seeing as guns have a cool-down, just raises more questions. Noble three, unlike her namesake, was a fairly accurate shot. Able to make shots over 150m away was brilliant. The others were average. Noble Four had to closest to my makeshift shooting range, given his gun. The next day I made them walk 3km away. In full armour. The only available was the "One size fits all" medium armour, which was annoying. Both Noble three and two could have clearly have improved wearing light armour. But that's a limited budget for you. Don't get me wrong, the guns were shit too. About thirty shots on the assault rifles before they began to melt your hands off. The other guns weren't much better. Incredibly inaccurate. Though initially it was hard to tell if that was the people or the guns themselves. Days turned into three weeks. Which is were I'll start again.

* * *

><p>"How far is this shooting range now?" Asked a very tired Noble two.<p>

"Only 7km." I replied cheerily. Truth be told, I was cheating. I was used to a normal gravity world, like earth or the citadel, and my leg muscles were adjusted as such. Plus doing 14km of walking every single day didn't hurt either. It was day two of practising powers and I was hopeful of my team. Me and Frank had made a bet on who's team would defeat each other in a friendly war game next week, and I was determined to make it my team. Given our lack of decent funds and the fact that we were practically communist when it came to money within our group we wagered something far more important. Control of Charon. And where Frank lacked in paper work skills, he made up as a incredible Drill Sergeant. A bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone.

Eventually we arrived at the shooting range, if you could call it that. It was a long strech between two rocks, with tin cans on the opposite side from us. The mayor had managed to supply us with some non-lethal ammo for training, but resources were scarce. The attacks were few and fare between, but many of the delivery caravans were taking longer and longer to get to town, or not even turning up at all. The pressure was on to train these people.

Noble Two was currently firing down the range. I had Jessica score us a few cheap Omni-Tools, and, not surprisingly, Noble two was great with overload, sabotage and some of the other tech powers. Noble five was pretty crap when it came to any sort of power, so I'll let him just have weapons. Noble four was showing promise with a taser attachment, and to fit the name I gave him I gave him a machete to practise with. Noble one doesn't use powers much, but she's accurate enough to survive. Noble 3 is showing great potential, her sniping is great. But, given the crappy weapons, I can't rely on her for sniper support all the time. Finally, Noble Six was being a great middle man in all this. Good with almost every weapon, adaptable, fast and clever. Awful with powers, but if I were to sic him on the enemy I would expect them all dead. And the height seems to actually be an advantage, throwing off a lot of the others in the teams in during versus practise.

"Sir, what's that?" Asked Noble 3, who was looking through some binoculars. She passed them to me and a gave a look.

In the distance of the desert was a reflective light. I adjusted the range and focus. The glare died down, and I could see it was clearly some kind of door, built into a small rocky cliff in the middle of the desert.

"Any mines this far from the mountain?" I asked.

"Negative. There's a ghost town a few miles away, but that's it." Replied Noble 3.

I gave the door a better look. It wasn't rusted, and the lights were on. Someone was inside.

"Get me Beta team noble two." I order.

"Sir. Yes sir." He replied. He started fiddling with his Omni-tool. This far away from Sheer-point communications were sketchy at best.

"Got it. Yes. Alex wants to talk to you." Said Noble two. He pressed a button on his omni-tool, which passed the call onto me.

"Alex? What is it?" Asked the familiar Scottish voice of Elizabeth.

"We've got a possible lead on what's been causing these attacks. Some kind of base built into a small cliff. Get everyone here right now." I ordered.

"Right." Replied Elizabeth.

"I'm gonna scout it out, see if there are any other entrances." I said.

"Be careful. I've got your position. ETA 30 minutes." Said Elizabeth.

I hung up.

"Everyone, we've got to scout out that building. Noble 3 and 2, your with me. Rest of you, wait here until the others arrive." I ordered. They nodded. Noble 2 and 3 adjusted their armour and weapons. I put on my long-coat over my armour. As impractical as that is in a combat situation, it made great camouflage and get the dust out.

"Let's go." Said noble 3. Noble 2 nervously nodded.

We walked away from the shooting range. The "Base" was about 500m away. It's possible they heard the gunshots of the shooting range, but since nothing happened on previous weeks perhaps we are all right. We walked. It was a very long walk, keeping our eyes on the rough approximation of the door's location whilst keeping our heads down, just in case. I had my assault rifle and pistol sheathed. Having them in my hands would just be more weight and get them dirty. Noble three was ignoring this, having her sniper rifle in her hands. Noble two had his omni tool on, recording every step.

Eventually, after 450 metres there were some rocks we could hide behind. We took cover, and me and noble three looked at the base. It was clear now it was occupied. There were tracks in the dirt were vehicles had been, which would have been blown away by the wind had they been more than 35 hours old.

The final signal was the geographic structure of the cliff. The cliff walls had various holes and cracks, perhaps were a hole had been blown into it. The door, was also very new. Couldn't have been older than 5 months old. But it was the standard human size door. Vehicle tracks meant there had to be another way into the base. I signal to the two members of noble, telling them to circle the base. They followed me as we did the long walk behind the cliff...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Elizabeth's POV<strong>_

The transport came to a halt, sinking slightly into the sand. The doors opened and I got out. My little team followed. Twilight Sparkle was asking me what was going on. To be fair I had awoken them in the middle of their afternoon naps. But whatever Alex had found it had to be important.

Standing before me was a women with curly ginger hair.

"You must be Elizabeth. Are the other squads coming?" Asked the women.

"Only Scott's squad. The other two are unreachable." I replied. "Who are you?"

"Noble one. Alex's second in command." Replied the women. _Alex choosing names from Halo? Really. At least I managed to stop him calling them after my little pony characters like I did._

"We found some kind of building built into the side of the cliff. Alex, Noble 2 and 3 are out scouting it out." Explained noble one.

"Right." I said.

Another vehicle arrived. It came to a halt behind us. Out of the car stepped out Scott and a tall Asian guy.

"I'm telling you Squidward, I think we found something out here." Explained Scott to the man as he stepped out of the vehicle.

"Nice of you to join us." I said.

"What's going on." Asked Scott.

I was about to answer that when Noble one's Omni-Tool began to ring.

"Hello?" She replied.

She stood there for a few seconds, nodding intently, before turning on the loudspeakers.

"Thank you Noble one. Our scouting has confirmed that there are three entrances, and we have seen humans inside. The door we found earlier, a garage and another one. How many teams have we got?" Asked Alex.

"3, including yours." I replied.

"Perfect. All right. One team attack via the vehicle garage, drawing these people away from the base. Then, the two other teams sneak in through the other two doors. Simple." Explained Alex.

"We've only got two cars." I brought up.

"Bring the car round to us, drop us my team then you guys draw their attention." Replied Alex.

"All right. Noble two is updating your Nav point with the doors' location. We have no idea who we are dealing with, so, keep a few of them alive if possible. This isn't going to be easy, but we have the element of surprise on our hands. We aren't going to lose one more person to these bastards!" Shouted Alex.

"Damn right sir." Said Noble one.

I could hear a audible face palm on Alex's end.

"Don't be a kiss-ass Noble one." Said Alex.

"We'll get on it. ETA five minutes." I replied.

"Good. Alex out."

"You heard the man! Harmony team, assemble!" I shouted. Scott walked off to equip and brief his own team.

"Your first real fight. Remember what we practised. Short, controlled bursts. Don't try a head shot with this guns and keep a eye on each other." I said.

"Ma'am, permission to speak?" Asked Rainbow Dash. I nodded. _I've managed to get these rag tag bunch of back planet misfits into a group capable of taking orders. Let's see if they are capable of staying alive._

"I just want to say that you have been a great leader so far." Said Rainbow dash. There were nods of agreements around the team. "Even if you pick really gay nicknames."

"Thank you Rainbow." I said.

"Get in the car. We'll be riding with Noble team." I explained. They nodded.

And so the two teams got into the Vehicle. I got in after them and nodded to the driver. He got out and handed the controls to me.

_Glad I knew how to drive a car in the 21st century. _

I shifted the vehicle into first gear and began to accelerate. I turned on my HUD. In the distance there were four diamonds of blue. Two were labelled for me. One "Attack Garage." and the second was "Drop off Noble."

The first thing that hit me was that we were very visible in this vehicle.

The second thing was a sniper bullet straight through the wind screen.

I gave the vehicle a swerve. The bullet has hit into the passenger seat.

_Looks like we've lost the element of surprise. _

"Brace yourselves!" I shouted as I put my foot down. The vehicle jumped over a sand dune, and landed with a thump. It took three seconds for the vehicle to start again, but by that time the sniper had fired another bullet. It slammed straight into my shoulder. At the distance of 300 metres it hurt less than it would normally but none the less it was painful. I grabbed a medi gel canister from the belt on my chest and haphazardly applied it to my shoulder.

I was close to the nav point, but if I stopped I would have alerted the sniper to Noble team's position. I had to do something stupid.

I pressed the button that opened the door of the vehicle. I slowed down a little.

"Jump Noble team!" I shouted. They looked at me confused.

"Get out the bloody car!" I shouted.

They didn't hesitate again. They stepped off the car and fell out. It wasn't dignified, and they looked like idiots. Another sniper bullet slammed into the side of the car. The Nav-point on my HUD switched off. Now there was only the garage...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

_Did my team seriously fall out of the car? Idiots._ I signalled for Noble two and three to follow me. We ran towards the other team members.

"What the hell happened there?" I asked.

"Car couldn't stop. Sniper." Said Noble One. The dust from their fall had began to settle. A sniper bullet whizzed past me.

"Get down!" I shouted.

They did so.

"All right. Noble three and Six, see if you can't hit that bastard. Five, give us covering fire." I ordered. I began to run towards the base. Assault rifle bullets from the base began to spray the area. Several hit me, but my shields barely held. I dolphin dived to the floor. The snipers weren't have any luck. Their guns overheated before the sniper could stick his head out, and their aim wasn't fantastic. As the other members of Noble team caught up with me, it was apparent a second plan was needed.

"Noble 2, what can you do about that sniper?" I asked hopefully.

"Nothing sir. I need some cover that isn't us laying on the floor." Said Noble two. That's when it hit me.

"Guys, what's about to happen next may surprise you." I said. I stood up.

I had taken the advice of the mayor three weeks prior. Not once had I used my biotic abilities. There simply was no reason to. But now I began to create a well of high mass. It was a weak singularity. Had I been a adept I may have been able to use it in combat. But it wasn't strong enough to pick up even most objects.

Sand, however, is very light. And covers a person quite well. The Singularity soon turned into a micro sand storm. I then released it. It cover a area of about 25m in slow falling sand. Which was the perfect cover for everyone. Not asking how I had done it, the team began to make the push forward.

Eventually, repeating the sand storm trick three times, we made it within 20 metres of the base.

"All right. Try and hit the sniper!" I ordered.

Noble three knelt down on one knee, sniper rifle in both hands, and took careful aim. Waiting for the sniper to reveal him/herself.

It took 7 tense seconds, but eventually the sniper stuck his head out on the roof. I could see the armour clearly now. The Blue and Green I would later get very used to. But that's not important right now. The sniper was fast, firing a shot into noble three. It tore straight through her shields, and hitting her in the leg. But she was more aggressive, rapidly firing two shot in quick succession straight into his chest. The first and second tore through his shields and ruptured his heart. He collapsed to the floor.

I gave her some medi gel and a pat on the back. She was shaking, but all right. I wasn't sure if this was pain or the fact she had just killed a man. I didn't ask.

"Noble two. Work on the door." I ordered. He gave me a nod and started hacking into it. Noble one was the first to speak.

"What the hell was that back there sir?" She asked. I assumed she was referring to my biotics.

"I'm a biotic. I can manipulate mass effect fields with my mind." I explained. "Useful for combat."

"Can you go back in time and grab random people and pretend it's their destiny to save the universe?" Asked Noble four.

"No." I replied.

"Then it's not magic?" Asked Noble six.

"No." I replied.

"Huh." Said Noble one. _Well that didn't go so badly._

"Doors opened sir." Reported Noble two. I nodded.

"All right. Four and five on point. Three at the back. Close range weapons, and keep quiet." I ordered. They nodded.

We walked through the door into a metallic corridor. In the distance I could hear gunfire and explosions. We kept low, crawling slowly through the base.

I looked around. There were no logos or discernible scenery that could help me work out just who was in charge of here. We came to a crossroads in the corridor. There were signs above our heads. One of them point to "Garage", another one read "Barracks", the other "Generator, do not overload.". The final one read simply "Command" I activated my Omni-Tool.

"Scott. You there?" I asked.

"Yeah. We're about to enter the base." He replied.

"Head to the generator room, wait for my command, the shut it down." I ordered.

"Right. Where are you going?" Asked Scott.

"I'm heading to the command room. I'm going to find out what the hell is going on." I said.

I was about to turn off my Omni-Tool when a voice shouted down the corridor.

"Who's there!" He asked. _Rookie mistake man. That alerts us to were you are._

I signalled to Noble four and pretended to slit my throat. Nodding, he started to crouch towards the voice. After a few seconds I heard a gurgling noise. Noble four walked back cleaning his Machete against his armour.

"Dealt with." He said calmly. _Freaking Psychopath._

"Right. Now head towards the command room." I said.

We started to crouch walk there. Following the signs. Occasionally waiting as Noble two opened a door or two.

Eventually we came to this one door. Behind was the nerve centre of the base. I looked though the windows. A single, armoured man was talking to a hologram.

"Open this door as quietly as you can." I whispered.

Noble two nodded and began to hack the door. It took him 24 seconds, but eventually he got through. I crouched into the room.

"Sir, The Mercenaries seem to be attacking the base earlier then anticipated." Said the armoured, grey haired man.

"I expect you are able to deal with them?" Asked the hologram. I couldn't quite get a look at who it was.

"The team outside the garage is down to two people, but there are teams inside the base. I've got people looking for them." Explained the armoured man.

"These are inbred locals and third rate mercenaries. How on earth are they inside the base!" Shouted the hologram.

"We weren't ready for them. I couldn't get anyone on the cliff in time." Replied the grey haired man.

"That is inexcusable. The plan was going perfectly. Sheer-point was to be ours. I am relinquishing you of your command Doyle. Take out the mercenaries or I will claim full de-liability of your actions." Said the Hologram.

"These mercs will be dealt with." Said Doyle.

_Time for a renegade interrupt._

"Sorry. Couldn't help over hearing." I said as I stood up.

The hologram quickly shut off. The man known as Doyle span around and shot six bullets from a pistol into me. I biotically pulled him towards me.

"We'll that was impolite." I said to the floating man. He shot at me again before the mass effect field collapsed and he fell to the floor.

I kicked him in the ribs.

"Who are you working for." I asked politely.

"Go fuck yourself." He replied. I equipped my pistol and slammed it into his head.

"I'm sorry. Didn't quite catch that!" I shouted as I pistol whipped him.

"No one!" He shouted.

"Cover the doors!" I shouted to my team.

I picked up Doyle and threw him, using mass effect fields, into a nearby computer teminal.

"This can end a lot quicker if you answer the question." I said.

"Aishland will kill me if I answer it!" He shouted in pain.

"I'll kill you if you don't." I said coldly. He gulped.

"Terminus Mining corp." He answered. "Terminus mining Corp."

"Why did you do it?" I answered as my team began to open fire on some approaching soliders.

"We wanted the mine. Didn't want a all out war with Aishland mining corp. So we took the odd civilian. Hoped they'd follow their usual pattern of making a bad militia to defend themselves." Replied Doyle. "Easy to deal with. Then fake a threasher maw attack. No questions asked, plausible de-liability."

"All right. Except this time they hired me." I said.

"You only got here because you accidentally found us early. We could have wiped your little team off the face of the galaxy." Said Doyle angrily.

"Call off your men." I said.

"Fuck you." he said. He punched me in the gut and stood up. He grabbed his pistol and placed it against my head.

"Tables have turned, bitch." He said. He pulled the trigger.

And noble two hit his target. Shooting Doyle right in the back of the head. His limp lifeless body fell onto me.

"Eww." Was all I could say.

"You all right sir?" Asked Noble two.

"I'm fine. Let's wrap this up." I said.

I looked to the hologram projector.

_I hope he didn't see my face. _I thought to myself.

* * *

><p>It took 3 hours for Aishland's own private army to arrive for the clean up operation. Despite my pleas and Aishland's best wishes there was no evidence linking Terminus mining corp to the base. Officially, it was pirates. Out here in the terminus, no one really listened to the "Official" any way.<p>

We arrived back at Sheer-point the same time that Frank and Jessica did. We managed to get 100,000 credits from Aishland corp., plus some overtime for actually taking the base. Scott had managed to blag us a few guns, including a Gorgon III assault rifle and a stiletto IV pistol for me. There was no time to say a goodbye to our team before we were dragged of back to the capital city of Outreach.

"Thank you for all you've done. You're good value for money." Said Greg Johnson.

"Hey. Glad we could help." I said. "Plus the money wasn't bad."

"If we ever have a problem like this again, I know who to call. If I want a cheap group of only five people that is." Said Greg.

"Perhaps we'll start hiring." Said Jesse. _Yeah. And let's recreate the Normandy as our ship too. And make it gold._

"Well. The next bus is here, so. On behalf on Aishland energy and mining corporation, thank you for your service. Now get out of here." Said Greg. I laughed.

"I'm serious. Time is money." Said Greg.

"Oh." I muttered.

Greg walked out of the space port.

"Well that could have went far worse." Said Scott.

"Yeah. So, I guess we need to decide who's leader?" I asked.

Frank sighed.

"Go ahead. Knock yourself out." Said Frank.

I performed a air guitar solo quickly, then returned to my calm composure.

_Who said it would be a little fun? I think I'm going to like it here._

* * *

><p><em><strong>One week later<strong>_

_**Apartment 607- Zakara ward**_

I sat at the dirty desk in the sitting room. Since we started this business it has become our table of paperwork. And that was clear. The table was absolutely crammed with forms, sheets, data pads and more. I grabbed my data pad. I decided that in the interest of credentials I would write a report on every contract we receive.

.

_**Case 02-complete**_

_**Income- 100,000 credits, plus overtime**_

_**Situation: All members alive, Alexander confirmed for leader.**_

_**Notes: Aishland energy is grateful, but we may make a powerful enemy in Frontier mining corp. Better keep on watch for them. Otherwise we have proved that we are good at this mercanary business. All ready got a call. Another maybe from some guy called Bruce Tanner, but that might be in a few weeks.**_

_**.**_

I wrote all this on my data pad. Our second ever contract ends in success. It wasn't glamorous, fun or particularly interesting until the end. But it's credits, and we have a contract we are proud enough of to put on the website. Not a bad months work.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well that was the first contract, and a long one at that. Longest chapter I have ever wrote. I wanted to build the atmosphere of strangeness towards the planet, plus how boring the job of mercenary can be. Of course, if I did it 100% realistically this fic would be REALLY boring. Oh, and keen eyed reviewers may realise that Mass &amp; Energy is temporarily crossing over with Mass Affect 2: The wild bunch. Read chapter 11 and twelve of that fic to see it from their perspective. Otherwise wait for the next chapter of this fic to see it from Charon's POV. Good hunting. <strong>_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Mass & Energy One:**_

_**Chapter nine: Crossover**_

_**.**_

_**Frank's POV**_

_**.**_

"Yes. Yeah. Kill him? Were not assassins, were mercs'. How much!" Shouted Alex into his omni tool.

"What is he talking about?" I asked as I placed another spoonful of ramon into my mouth.

"New contract I think." Replied Jesse.

"All right. I'll scope it out tomorrow. Thanks you Bruce." Said Alex, turning off his Omni-tool as he finished.

"Do you mind not talking business over dinner." Asked Elizabeth.

"Sorry, but it feels like we haven't had business for 3 months." replied Alex.

"It's only been 2 weeks." I replied.

"I just kept delaying this I suppose. Any way, so, Tomorrow, we've got a job to do." Explained Alex.

"What is it?" Asked Scott.

"All right. There's this crazy ass nightclub owner and computer guy. We've to get pass his guards, however that works out, then kill him. Take some information of some kind and go. It's even on the citadel, so no paying for transport." Alex explained.

"So, run in, kill the guy, steal data, go home?" I asked.

"yep." Alex replied.

"... That's a bit... never mind." Said Scott.

"What?" Asked Elizabeth.

"Well... What has this guy done wrong to be killed?" Asked Scott.

"Not pay us." Said Alex Sarcastically.

"I really hope you don't mean that." Said Scott.

"Right.. He's... A drug addict who...Sold his brother for drugs." Said Alex.

"God that's horrible!" Shouted Scott.

"Absolutely. We have to kill him. But first, I think that we have enough spare money from our last contract to upgrade our equipment a little." Said Alex.

"It's past tea time, all the shops will be closed?" I reminded him.

He moved over dramatically towards the window of our apartment.

"This is more than the city that never sleeps, this is the city that no-one has any idea what time it actually is." Monologued Alex.

"Yeah... So,shopping trip?" I asked.

"Sure!" Said Jesse.

"Great." I said as I activated my Omni-Tool. "What do we need?"

"I need some magnetic strips, and some Kepetixin." Replied Alex. Kepetixin was a immunity suppression drug developed specifically for biotic amps, so that the body didn't reject the implants. Alex had a subscription with the local chemist.

"Right. Jesse?" I asked.

"Hmm. I need a new scope, and perhaps a new Omni-tool." She replied.

"Right. Scott?" I asked.

"Hydraulic augments for my heavy armour wouldn't be a miss." He replied.

"All right. Finally, Elizabeth?" I asked.

"Eh.. We really need to get our hands on some ammo mods, especially some incendiary and disruptor." Elizabeth replied.

"All right." I said as I grabbed the nearest credit chit. I looked at the digital screen on it. It read "14,908" It was almost all we had left.

"Ladies, Gentleman. Let's suit up!" Shouted Alex as he put a Long coat over his white t-shirt...

* * *

><p>The Laet family Store was hands down one of the greatest armour stores on the Citadel. Cheap, well made, and if we weren't absolutely skint they do this awesome custom armour deal.<p>

I was looking at a single terminal, seeing readouts for this new set of armour. Compared to the old Alliance gear we were wearing it was fantastic. But with such little money, if we all bought decent armour we would be out of all our cash. Without insurance against failing this assignment, this fancy armour wouldn't save us from starvation. I scrolled the terminal to Armour modifications. True enough, one in particular sparked my interests. Rather than the usual hard armour modifications, it altered the software in the suit, allowing for something called "Team HUD." It allowed for entire teams to place down way points, give signals digitally and communicate far easier. Of course, I would have to buy 5 copies, which would come to... 1200 credits. Could be far worse.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Yes?" Asked the Turian shopkeeper.

"Can I get five copies of the... B312 Spartan Team HUD." I asked.

"Sure." Replied the Shop keeper.

"And a pair of Hydraulic augmenters III." Added Scott.

"Same Tab?" Asked the Shop keeper.

"Absolutely." I replied.

"Okay that brings the total to... 1749 credits." Said the shop keeper. I handed over my credit chit.

"Say, do I know you from somewhere?" I asked as he was processing the chit.

"Depends, do you know Garrus?" He asked. I stared at him. "He might have told you about me, if your his human friend he keeps going on about."

Strange, to hear about a main character from the game brought up in a conversation. It seems too... Coincidental. As if it was shoe horned in by some lazy writer...

"...No." I replied. Or maybe I'm thinking to much like Jesse.

"Right.. Well, here's your Chit, I'll just get around to fabricating your mods." Said Laet. He walked around through a door behind the counter.

"I hope he doesn't take our money and run." Said Scott.

"He probably won't." I replied.

I wonder if any of the others are having any weird shopping experiences.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

"Excuse me?" Asked a young male quarian. I turn to him.

"Yes?" I asked as kindly as I can.

"Why are you buying those magnetic strips?" Asked the Quarian.

"Well... You see this long coat I am wearing." I asked.

"I just assumed you were wearing a slightly cut sheet." Said the quarian, seemingly without meaning to insult me. _Seemingly. _"Go on?"

"Well, I want to have this on whilst I'm in the field. So, to wear this safely over Armour I need to connect it to the armour by something. And I thought that two magnetic strips would be perfect." I explain. "Why do you ask? Pilgrimage?"

"Pilgrimage? No, I just need something to use whilst I'm climbing up buildings." Replied the Quarian.

"...Excuse me?" I asked.

"I climb up buildings, then I jump off them." Replied the Quarian.

I pause for a few seconds as I take this in.

"Are you fucking Insane! First of all, The atmosphere is usually 13 metres high. You are literally climbing in a Vacuum! Secondly... What the hell do you do to slow your fall?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh you know... Whatever I can find..." Replied the Quarian.

"To slow yourself down, whilst in a vacuum, which means that there is almost no terminal velocity, you use whatever you can find whilst you are free-falling?" I asked.

"And biotics." Added the Quarian.

"Before I even ask how a Quarian got biotics, What good will that do you?" I ask.

"Well, you can create a area of high mass above your head, acting as a secondary gravity field, slowing your decent. You can also apply a mass effect field around yourself, lightening your mass to almost Zero, meaning that the gravity field wouldn't even need to be that strong to slow you down. Then, in the last thirteen metres you activate whatever parachute your Omni-Tool has quickly constructed, and only break your legs." Explained the Quarian.

"...So can I have that last magnetic strip?" He asked.

"...I think it's best for your own safety that I just take this to the kiosk and pay for it, and not let you have it." I said, slightly shaken by the stupidity of this quarian.

"Suit yourself, I'll just use super glue to climb then." Said the Quarian.

"Knock yourself out kid." I said as I backed away from the crazy quarian.

_Crazy ass son of a... Inventive use of mass effect fields though. Have to remember that one..._

_._

* * *

><p><em><strong>6 hours later<strong>_

_**.**_

"The Players nightclub. The only way into the building complex is through this nightclub." Explained Elizabeth, who had been doing reconnaissance on the place. "However, a lose in power would open a emergency exit, on the second floor. There is a set of stairs leading to that."

"Where's the nearest Fuse box?" Asked Scott.

The holographic image projected by her omni tool moved away from the tower and towards a small inconspicuous building 40 metres away.

"One person needs to flick the switch long enough that another person can leave the door open, but short enough so that it doesn't cause to much of a disturbance." Explained Elizabeth.

"You're on that Elizabeth. Wait for our signal then flick it off for five seconds, by that time I shall make sure the door is kept open." I ordered.

"Right. Once we are inside the building, there seems to be considerable resistance. On a preliminary scan of the complex I saw roughly thirty guards." Said Elizabeth.

"Any nearby buildings I can snipe from?" Asked Jesse.

"None of them are high enough reach the top floor. And their apartment complexes. Someone's going to notice." Replied Elizabeth. "You're best off going with the rest of us."

"Agreed." Said Frank.

"Once inside, it's a simple elevator ride to the top floor. That's were most of the personal will be. Given the distance from the nightclub and the loudness of it we should be able to mask the sound of gunfire most spectacularly." Said Elizabeth.

"Great. Is there anyway to stop the elevator for working for anyone else?" I asked.

"Sure. It should be as simple as giving the console at the top a good shock." Said Elizabeth. "But how are we going to get down?"

"We'll walk. Actually... What's the drop from this building to the next?" I asked.

"Two floors. Why?" Asked Elizabeth.

"In, should the cops arrive we could run that way, across the buildings..." I said as the Omni-Tool hologram moved across the buildings roofs. "Into this apartment block. Simple Jump down and we'd be at ground level."

"... That's crazy. There's this building here." Replied Elizabeth pointing at a sloped roof. "That we would have to slide down. No way I'm doing something as stupid as that."

"Fine. But it's just a back up plan." I replied.

"Okay. So, let's go over this one more time. I flick fuse box. Door opens. You guys hold the door open as we meet up. Then, we get into the elevator and ride it to the 59th floor. Get into the sixtieth floor via the stairs and some explosives, then, kill Bryce, take the data, and get out before the cops see us." Elizabeth Explained.

"Helmets on for this mission, I don't want to have our faces blared all over Alliance News Network." I said.

"Right." Said everyone. We all got off of our dingy sofa's and made our way to our Armour and weapon tables. I looked at my Stiletto IV pistol, looked down the barrel and Folded it. I did the same with my Gorgan III assault rifle. Then, I took my Alliance Light armour, painted blue into the bathroom and began the long process of putting it on. Shame that it would be too dangerous to put on my Long coat.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One hour Later<strong>_

_**Alex's POV**_

_**Player's nightclub**_

_**.**_

I looked over the night club. _Players? That's the shittest, least original name for a nightclub I've ever heard._

"Elizabeth, how goes the Fuse box?" Asked Frank into our comms.

"I'm at it, give the word and I'll flick the lights." She said.

_Let's test this new equipment._

I placed a way point at the fire escape, hoping it would turn up on everyone's HUD.

"Got it." Replied Frank. The four of us made our way towards the fire escape as inconspicuously as we could when wearing military grade armour and packing considerable "Heat".

We slowly walked onto the metal staircase, our every footstep echoing.

"Eliza, we are at the door, flick the switch." Said Scott.

There was no reply, but merely a few seconds later the lights across the entire district went out. I ran into the room, then, dragged a nearby chair into the fire escape.

"Back on now!" I shouted.

A few seconds later, the lights in all of the buildings tentatively returned to life. Shortly after, the music in the club began to start playing again.

"All right, heading towards you." Said Elizabeth.

I saw the vague outline of a women running in alliance armour. Shortly thereafter, she reached us. She climbed over the chair and entered the office complex.

"Well that worked." She said.

"Good work Elizabeth. Right, get the elevator moving." I order. She nodded and the group moved towards the elevator. As I began to move the chair out of the way of the magnetically sealed door I noticed a hover car land, and several people get out of it. They looked towards the nightclub, then up to the top floor. Luckily they didn't notice us.

"hmm." I muttered. I gave the chair a good heave, and the door slammed shut.

"Elevator's ready." said Scott.

"Good, every one, check your weapons. We'll likely be going in hot." I order as I entered the elevator. Scott pressed the button for the 59th floor and the elevator started to move.

I noticed Jesse shaking slightly.

"You all right?" I asked.

"I'll be fine. Just some pre-mission nerves." She replied.

"Stay back and snipe. You don't have to get too close to them. Me and Scott will have them distracted." I said.

"What's the plan?" Asked Scott.

"Elizabeth, do we have a floor plan?" I asked.

"Afraid not. There's no schematics I could find for this building." She replied.

"Then it looks like we'll just have to make it up as we go along." I said.

The elevator finally stopped on the fifty ninth floor.

"Jam this one." I whispered.

"Okay." Replied Elizabeth.

"Frank, place a drone and tell us what's around that corner." I ordered, still whispering. He activated his Omni-Tool. A few seconds later a tiny holographic drone was fabricated. Unlike Combat Drones, the sub aerial B98 Recon drone was a master of reconnaissance. Able to send a video feed to the drivers Omni-tool, and work on it's own should it need to, it was perfect for scoping out rooms and corridors. Of course, with Zero weapons capabilities and a unmistakable slight humming noise, it was not good in a tight situation.

Frank began slowly piloting the Drone into the next room.

"All right, In this room we have... Three Soliders. Armed with assault rifles. They haven't noticed the elevator, and they have the door on their right hand side." Explained Scott. "They are leaning against a water cooler."

"Good work. Right, Frank, pilot that drone room by room. The moment we start firing they are going to know that we are hear. Tag targets on our Team HUD. Once everyone on this floor is down we'll kill them, take the key to the next floor and deal with them. Got it?" I whispered.

Frank nodded, and shortly after the three people in the next room were on our HUD. He drove it into the corridor, sneaking past the guards.

"None in their. Wait. One person, moving into the toilets. To fast for me to tag him." Explained Scott.

"One in toilets." Scot mumbled to himself. The Drone moved into a large office area.

"Oh shit. All right, we've got..." Said Frank as he piloted the drone to a higher vantage point. "8 on the floor, 4 on the railings above. I'm tagging them now."

"That it?" I asked.

"Switching to thermal. It's going to make a slightly louder humming noise, so they may detect the drone." Warned Frank.

"Do it." I said.

The holo feed being projected from Frank's Omni-Tool changed to blue and red.

"No more people. The railing above are not part of the sixtieth floor rooms, so we still need that key." Said Frank.

"All right. Ready up people." I whispered. I got out my pistol, Frank drew a shotgun, Scott a assault rifle, Jesse a sniper and Elizabeth her Pistol.

I nodded, and we moved into the first room.

"So I said to Koriuk I said." Explained one of the Guards to the others.

Scott stood up and began to spray the area in bullets. One of the Guards got killed, whilst the others dived to the floor.

"Help!" They shouted over the sound of gunfire.

BANG. Elizabeth's pistol rang out, nailing the screaming guard in the back of his head.

I focus, and pulled the other guard into the air. Frank let loose a single shot of his gun, sending the guard crashing into the nearby wall. We ran into the corridor and immediately turned to our right. Sure enough, loose bladder guard had exited the bath room and had began to spray the corridor in assault rifle bullets. My shields took some hits as we dived for cover behind some some tables that were folded to the side of the corridor.

Jesse Got out her sniper rifle, quickly took aim and fired. Her first shoot slammed into the wall behind Loose bladder guy. Her second shot tore his arm clean off. We ran towards the toilets. Elizabeth shot the dying guard in the head. We peeked round the corner into the Open office area.

A single bullet collided with Scott's shields. He moved away from the door way and drew his shotgun. He counted down from three.

This next move, known only as the charge and barge, was hands down one of the stupidest ideas' the military had ever had. What it involved was charging straight into someone, using them as a human shield whilst shooting with your overhand, throwing away the body as your reached your destination. Due to the weight involved, only two kinds of people could ever pull it off. Biotics, and really strong people. Scott was definitely the latter. He ran around the corner, straight into a shotgun wielding guard. He moved his arm forward and grabbed onto him, pulling him towards his armour. We moved round the corner, laying down some covering fire on the guards above as Scott charge into another person. That guy fell to the ground, gun no longer in his hand. Jesse shot him right in the face with her sniper rifle. Scott finally reached the end of the office complex, and slammed the now deceased guard into the huge window. The glass cracked slightly. There were only five guards left on the floor, and one on the railing above, taking cover.

"Grenade!" Shouted Frank. He threw the round disc like object into the middle of the office area. Shortly after, burnt chairs began to fly through he air. As well as screams from injured guards.

I checked my HUD more closely. Only railings guy left Conscious.

Until a single pistol bullet rang out, drilling straight through the man's cerebral cortex. He was dead in seconds.

I paused for breath.

"Good... Work...Everyone. Phew. Right, search whatever is left of their bodies, find me a key." I ordered. Scott immediately began checking the body of his unfortunate human shield. Elizabeth checked the body of Loose bladder. Jesse walked back towards the elevator, checking the three bodies there.

It took one minute, until Jesse shouted.

"Got it!"

We walked towards her. She was holding a small credit card like object in her hands.

"Good work. Right, to the stairs then." I ordered.

She nodded and moved towards the locked door to the right of the two elevators. She swiped the card through the lock. After a second of waiting, the doors slide open.

"Everyone in." Said Jesse.

And with that, we checked our weapons again, making sure they weren't burnt out from the fighting, and walked up the stairs.

The art Deco suddenly changed. From the utilitarian grey of the offices, they turned into fake wooden panels, Marble pillars and various other expensive looking materials.

_Kind of reminds me of my office. _I thought, remembering the nice office I used to pretend to work in back on Earth.

"Drone?" I whispered to Frank. He shook his head. _Damn._

I drew my pistol and moved to the front. I clung to the wall, making sure to make as little noise as possible. We came to some paper doors. I tried to look through them. I could see a two people talking, one with a raised, almost scared voice. I raised my hand, then held up two fingers.

I waited seven seconds, then ran through the paper doors. As raised my head I noticed a guard raising his gun, and a scared suited man. I shoot three bullets. Two into the guard, causing him to fall to the floor, and one into the businessman. He fell to the floor, his chest slowly oozing blood.

I waited a few seconds, cautious in case something bad happens. But after ten seconds, nothing happened.

"Frank, confirm that body, Elizabeth, see if you can't wipe the security cameras." I ordered. I moved towards the massive window, overlooking the wards.

As my team behind me began to scuffle into action, I thought for a second. Why the heck would Bruce Bann... sorry, Tanner, send a hit on his own brother? Eh, not my problem. If I had only accepted missions without moral ambiguity I would be broke before you could say "I meant well."

That's the thing about my stay in this universe. It's all well and good if you act like a saint, but in the end it's not going to get you anywhere. When your backs against the wall and your out of options, occasionally you have to give up notions like morality, just to keep the people you care about alive.

"It's him." Said Frank, snapping me out of this train of thought. He held a data disk in his hand. "Got the package too."

"Throw it here." I asked. He lobbed the data disk, straight into my hands.

"Wiped the CCTV. When someone finds the bodies, they won't have any idea it was us." Said Elizabeth.

"Good. Make your way here, I just want to check his personal terminal." I ordered.

She walked out of the CCTV room, and, along with the others, made their way towards Bryce's desk, near the window.

"See if you can't work out his password." I asked to Elizabeth. She nodded. I gave the Data disk a look over. I glanced towards the door.

To see, quite strangely, a red armoured Spartan, along with a hooded women who I could have sworn was Kasumi, and three other armoured people.

_Well crap_ I thought to myself. _It seems I accidentally disturbed a cos play convention._

For a few tense seconds no one made a move. A pin drop would have been deafening in the tense silence of the room. But, when raised a message on the Team HUD to open fire, it seemed to do the trick.

Frank, Scott and Elizabeth immediately opened fire, whilst Jesse slowly took aim.

"Run!" whispered Frank into the comms. I nodded. I had the data, it was my job to get it out of here. I shot the window behind me, and, remembering my back up plan, jumped through it.

"Surrender if you have to, don't get yourselves killed." I shouted into the comms. As the roof of the adjacent building approached, I decreased my mass and increased the mass directly above my head. I slowed myself down to a graceful stop, and began to run. As I was doing so, I heard the sound of breaking glass, and I quickly looked behind me, surely enough, the red Spartan had jumped through he window, and made a less than graceful landing onto the rooftop. He quickly regained his composure, and began to chase after me. Their was a large rooftop generator.

_Jumping on it._

So I did. I quickly decreased my mass and jumped. Sure enough, I "Flew" about 10 feet into the air. I landed on the generator with a light thump, and stopped changing my mass. I ran.

_Better slow down this Crimson Chief. _I quickly primed a grenade and threw it over my shoulder. A few seconds later it exploded. I jumped onto the next building and ran. Annoyingly, the blast seemed to have actually propelled _Sierra Obvious target_ into the air. The bastard actually made several shoots, and flew into the floor below. A few seconds later, and more gunshots, he jumped onto the roof.

_Clever girl._

Then I saw it. The slanted roof.

_Oh boy this is going to suck._

I moved onto my back as soon as the roof started to slant. I slide down the rooftop.

_Why the fuck did I think this would work!_

I began to scream. More likely then not the air rushing past would distort any noise I made. But as I slide down at the rate of 30 mph. Absolutely Terrifying.

I slide around, moving onto my stomach. I had to time this perfectly for this to work. I opened my palms, just as I began to fall off the roof. I then crunched them together, gripping onto the age of the roof. I had to be fast. I Lightened my mass again, and jumped through the window on the next building. I landed with a slight crunch.

_Jesus that was painful. And all this biotic stuff is really tiring._

I took in my surroundings. I was in a apartment block, with a spiral staircase, rooms on every side. Their were still thirty odd floors between me and the ground, which I could see straight down the middle of the stairs. I began to jog down the stairs.

Before I could even make it down a floor, _Missing in Traction _began to fire at me. I took cover behind the stairs' railings.

_Okay Alex. Think. This cover is not going to stop that many bullets, and I have to make my way down thirty floors as quickly as I can._

Realising my only option, not matter how extremely stupid it was, I hopped over the rails, and began to fall.

When you free-fall, the first thing that you feel is your stomach lurch. It's a horrible feeling. This happens during the first second. Then you notice your arms being pulled above your head. Your legs start to erratically swing as if your brain is telling them "Where the fuck is the ground!"

During Free-fall, instinct almost immediately takes over.

But I had to be better then that. Remembering what that crazy ass Quarian said, I decreased my mass again to almost Zero. Then, using what little energy I had left, I increased the mass above my head substantially. I began almost immediately to slow down, the conflict between the two fields of gravity, which the one above of my head was winning. Whilst it would be impossible to fly, I began to decelerate.

In the distance I could hear police sirens.

"That Stupid Fucking Limey!" Shouted the red Spartan as he waited for his assault rifle to cool down.

_Oh you did not just say that!_

By the time I had reached the ground, I was travelling slowly enough to land rather gracefully. The moment I removed the mass effect fields I felt a surge of tiredness take over me.

_I have to do this first._

I raised my hand to the red Spartan, and stuck up my middle finger. I then slowly hobbled my way out of the building. I walked out of the building, C-Sec Turians beginning to charge into the building, all of them ignoring me completely.

"ALCATRAZ! PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD, WE WILL FIRE." Shouted a C-Sec cop through a mic.

_Alcatraz? That's your name? Alcatraz. Destiny's a bitch now. _I thought, echoing the words of Prophet.

But perhaps, we all should have looked up, for there was a slowly descending shuttle above my head, and a Red Spartan gripping onto the side. Before I could even climb down the stairs to the ground, a huge red weight dropped on top of me.

_Ah Shit that hurts!_

"You're coming with me you..." Order the red Spartan in a slight Canadian accent. He began to look up, noticing the C-Sec perimeter. "On second though, Fuck that."

He shoved me aside and ran. He turned to the officers as he did and made a L with his hands on his head.

_Pathetic. What kind of person insults a person as they run away... Oh_

I got up. A few officers looked at me, but ignored me.

I slowly hobbled away. I really need to get my blood sugar levels up, or I'll collapse. I walked into a nearby newsagents, who, stilled shocked at the bizarre scene in front of him, didn't notice when I stole a Cadbury's dairy milk. I walked away, waiting for a call from the others.

* * *

><p>My wandering took me to a shuttle stop. I sat on the bench and waited. Eventually, my omni tool vibrated. I looked at the call log. It read Scott.<p>

"Scott?" I asked.

"Yeah it's me." He replied.

"Where the hell are you?" I asked. _At least their Alive. I feel like shit for running away from them like that. Plus I'm pretty fucking tired._

"Uh, we're in a safe zone away from the Feds, what about you?" He asked.

I searched my pockets. I came up with nothing. _Oh you have to be._

"I lost the damn intel. That Spartan look-alike from the Wild Bunch caught up to me and stole the intel." I replied.

"Well, me and the others are going to 973, Zakera. Can you meet us their?" Asked Scott.

"Yeah, sure. I don't think Bruce is going to be pleased with the outcome." I said.

_Why the heck aren't we just going straight to the apartment. Something isn't right. I know, I'll let him know I think something is up._

"All right, We'll see you there." Said Scott.

"See ya." I replied. The Casual use of a non real word should let him know that I think something is up.

The call ends. Finally the shuttle arrives.

_That Alcatraz bastard is going to pay._

* * *

><p>973 Zakera turned out to be a warehouse. As I walked in I could tell something was odd. There was the sounds of footsteps around, and my friends were nowhere to be seen. I considered drawing my pistol.<p>

I began to follow the footsteps above. Someone was trying to psych me out.

I heard the slight sound of laughter. I looked up. It was obvious that I had been tricked. _Oh shit._

Suddenly there was some hooded women hanging upside down in front of me.

"Hi." Said the Women with a clear Japanese accent.

I felt myself being pulled straight into the air. I failed to keep my cool, and began to flail my arms and start screaming.

I saw the Red Spartan again. I mouthed "Oh shit."

"I figured it's time we had a little chat." He said in a Canadian Accent. He cut the rope. I fell straight on my back.

"OW! Fuck!" I groaned.

I felt my wrist behind me being clamped together. I felt as if my nerves were being... Dulled. I guessed that my biotic powers were out of the question.

I looked to Scott. As I glad as I was that he was alive, it was annoying he led me into this trap. I noticed he wasn't in chains. He mouthed "sorry" to me.

"Now, it seemed to me that we had a solid plan. Fool-proof, you might even say." Alcatraz said as he sat down in front of us. "So you can imagine my displeasure when I come to find Bryce Tanner dead, along with all of his guards. Which in turn means that this information," He held up the data, "that we worked so hard to get, is now useless."

We didn't say a word. Not that Bruce is worth defending, but it was a tad embarrassing to be caught by some cos-players.

"Who hired you?" Alcatraz asked.

Ah fuck it, what's the worst that can happen. Just say it like they have me under their control. Gain their trust.

"Bruce Tanner." I replied softly.

"Why do you care?" Scott asked. "Isn't Bruce just some computer geek that paid us to help."

Alcratraz gave a slightly creepy chuckle. He pulled out a data pad and handed it to my non shackled team mates.

"Bruce Tanner is one of the top weapon smugglers in Citadel Space. He's trafficked enough firearms to embarrass all three merc groups combined and spends his spare time sexually assaulting any woman he can get his hands on." Explained Alcatraz. I almost Shrugged. It was nothing I didn't all ready know. But my team mates were shocked, so I pretended I was too.

"His brother Bryce was in the same business but wanted out and had information that could ruin his career. Though, because Bryce was a top-level engineer, we needed him alive to acess this information. Which thanks to your work, is now out of the question." He let that sink in before moving on. "So here we are. Now, the five of you have two options." He got up from the table. "You can stay quiet and not tell me anything, which is easier for me, because all I would need to do then is shoot you, leave your bodies here, go home and order a pizza."

_That's not the best idea I've ever heard._

"Or you could make my life harder and help us take down Bruce." He offered. _Strange. He was trying to kill me about a hour ago._

"You, you want us to help you?" Jesse asked, cautiously.  
>"Would you prefer the first option?" Said Alcatraz cockily.<br>"No." I said cautiously.  
>"Then get your Asses over to the shuttle, I want out of this Pisshole." Said Alcatraz as he turned his nose up at this place.<br>We slowly got up, which is an achievement if you've got your hands tied behind you back.  
>We walked over to the shuttle. The hooded women released me from my shackles. I considered running, but that would most likely kill me and my team. I'm not running from these guys twice in one day.<br>We walked into the shuttle, with Alcratraz and the hooded women following a few seconds later. The door closed and we lifted off. Frank looked out of the window.  
>"What's with the windows?" He asked.<br>"Our base is secret and I plan to keep it that way." Said Alcatraz.  
>"You have a base?" Asked Jesse excitedly.<br>_Oh crap._

* * *

><p>The shuttle slowed down, before the engines turned off a little while later. The door opened, and, after Alcratraz hopped out we followed. <em>Were outnumbered two to one. Attacking might work.<em> I considered bring that up before I realised that the others were looking around gobsmacked at the fact that these guys had a base.  
>"Why can't we have a kickass base like this?" Asked Frank.<br>"It does make our apartment look like trash." Added Jesse.  
>"Jesse, Don't help him." I groaned. These guys just had to remind us of how poor we were. Besides, a open sewer makes our apartment look like trash.<br>"Alright," I called out. "Now that you're here let's get the introductions out of the way. Guys," Alcatraz gestured to us. "This is Charon, a little Merc band no one has ever heard of and are the ones responsible for us not being able to use Bryce's information against Bruce."  
>"So why are they here?" Asked a tall guy as he gestured at us.<br>"Simple." Alcrataz said as he made his way over to a holographic screen on the wall and had it display Bruce's main HQ. "They're going to help us bring the fight to Tanner's doorstep."  
>"Fucking great. We're human shields." I mumbled. "Remind me never to work on the citadel again."<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>What's that? Empeorie has updated something! I wrote this on the 11<strong>__**th**__** of July, and I was waiting till I finished part two. That will come out next week. I would like to add that the Wild bunch are the propriety of CuHnadian. And this is just part one. See you next week. **_

_**PS. If anyone with Photoshop or drawing skills can make a cover, I would pay you a billion Internet dollars. I know there worthless. A lot like Canadian dollars actually. Thank you if you do, sorry CuHnadian.  
><strong>_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Mass & Energy One & Mass Affect 2 in:**_

_**Chapter 10: No you!**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Elizabeth's POV<strong>_

_**.**_

Whilst Alex shouted at that Alcatraz kid and everyone else was ogling just how well off these guys were.

I looked towards who was quite strangely Kasumi. It was absolutely bizarre to find a game character working with... Oh never mind, we've worked with Lieutenant Amelia Shepard. It makes very little sense though. We are presumably the only people in the universe who can change events, and somehow these people exist and they work with a character who has no right being here. Perhaps there are other forces of change? Perhaps... Perhaps these people are people inserted into this universe too. Perhaps... Nah that's ridiculous. They'd be poor, and they would be dropping vague hints of the future like we love to do.

I looked from Kasumi to the poor guy staring at her. He may not be Kenji, but I figured that he deserves a kick.

"Didn't your parents tell you it's rude to stare?" I asked. _Please not a orphan, please not a..._

He almost lept to his feet and turned to face me.

"I, I, wasn't..." Said the kid really awkwardly. I tried not to laugh, I had been in a situation like this before, but it is funny when it's happening to someone else. I leant on the nearby table clutter with equipment.

"You like her don't you?" I asked.

"What? No..." He responded. I tilted my head.

"All right. Fine. I like her." He responded. Don't even know his name and I already know who he fancies. This guy would be terrible under interrogation.

"So why don't you ask her out then?" I asked.

"Uh, are you insane?" He asked. I smiled. _Poor kid, typical defence mechanism. _

"What?" I asked.

"I though the outfit was a give away," He gestured to her, probably ignoring the fact that as a master thief she probably had excellent peripheral vision and almost definitely saw that. "She's not the most generic of individuals."

Oh this poor sod. As if people develop crushes on "Generic individuals.". Scott would've just laughed at that. Not important.

"That's one of the reasons you like her isn't it?" I asked.

The man grasped his face with his right hand, covering his eye.

"Just think about it." I said as I coolly snatched one of their pistols from the table, hoping no one would notice.

I walked away from the love sick man and noticed that the discussion was almost over. I wanted to ask where these kids got all their fancy equipment, but that seemed impolite. I looked over to their shuttles. They had two, parked inside. I didn't notice a star ship, and as far as I could remember any time I heard about the wild bunch it was on the Citadel. I looked back at this place.

What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

_**.**_

With the battle plan over, and some arguing with Alcatraz about team roles, he went off to the armoury.

_There's too much bad air between you. It will hurt unit cohesion. _Said Legion in my head.

_Your right._

I almost followed him immediately, but there was something I had to do first.

"Excuse me?" I asked to the hooded thief as I tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?" She asked in her distinctive Japanese accent.

"Are you Kasumi Goto?" I asked Frankly.

"What the... How on earth do you know?" She asked shocked.

"Wild guess, anyway, there's something I want to try. I want you to pass on a message." I asked.

"Go on..." She said not assured of what I was doing.

"If you ever meet Commander Shepard, and I'm not there, tell her "Private Alexander says sorry." She might get it, if she doesn't get it then it's okay." I explained.

"Why? Who is Commander Shepard?" She asked.

"A very important person. One last thing. Don't let your boss know that I know who you are. And whatever happens. Don't tell him that message." I said sternly. I walked on pass.

That was needlessly complicated, but should I not make it too Mass effect one or two it should give Shepard some comfort. You know, if she even remembers who I am.

I walked towards the Armoury table. I wish I had time to change out of my combat suit, but I left my awesome long coats at my apartment. It would've been impractical for this mission. I looked to the red Spartan who about a hour ago was chasing me across roof tops. He was constantly modifying his Sniper rifle.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked as I crossed my arms in disapproval.

"It helps pass the time, and I want to make sure that if I miss," He said as he cocked it and attached it to the magnetic clamp on his back. "It's my fault."

Holy crap, that was kind of bad ass. Better look professional. I gave a understanding look before shifting on my feet a little. Truth be told, I'd been following the adventures of the wild bunch since they first got on Citadel news. The past year had been one fun crime scene after another. Doing good, without having to worry about the personal cost. It must've been nice for them. But if I want a modicum of respect, I better seem cold.

"So what did you do before this? You couldn't have been doing this forever." I asked.

"I was a cop." He said. I was surprised. Not many humans in C-Sec, assuming that's where he meant.

"Officer?" I asked.

He reached into a pocket somewhere on himself and pulled out a small sliver object. He shown it to me. It was a detective badge, with him cleverly hiding the numbers.

"Detective." He replied. That is cool.

"Wow." I said as I raised my eyebrows. _Crap, stay cold. _"That's almost impressive." _Nailed it._

"Says the failed biotic student." He replied. _Huh what?_

"What makes you say I'm a failed student?" I asked a little hurt.

"Because I know that you're not old enough to have graduated from Grissom Academy." He replied as he crossed his arms. Cute, he thinks I'm under twenty two. I'm almost 25 you... Never mind, he's still technically correct.

"And what about you? You don't sound weak but you still sound young. Yet you decided to leave C-Sec for a life of fighting crime in jumped out suits." I asked a little meanly, stopping myself from saying he became a flunky Spartan.

"It's a trend still in it's early stages." He replied coolly. _You have no idea mate. Garrus sure is going to make that popular._

"The costume or the crime fighting?" I asked.

"Probably the latter. I have a feeling this." He said as he looked over his own armour. "Doesn't have much meaning to other people other than my identity."

"But it has more to you?" I asked.

"Sort of. Mostly it's just a homage to something from a long time ago." He said. _How on earth does someone from the year 2183 know Halo? Oh well._

"What about you?" He asked. "Is this all for the hell of it or is it geared towards something?"

I paused for a second before responding. "Maybe a bit of both. I've got something in mind."

"Just make sure to be careful, I don't like mercs and well..." Said Alcatraz a little threatening.

"What's supposed to mean?" I asked, slightly insulted.

"In English," He said as he lowered his voice. "When this mission is over, I never want to see your face again."

I glared at him. This little fucking Alcatraz punk did not threaten me. No one threatens me and gets away with it.

"Hey guys, lets go!" Some member of his team called out from the shuttle. Alcatraz walked towards it. I grabbed my Gorgan assault rifle and Stiletto Pistol and followed behind him. I noticed the pilot seemed jumpy.

"Is your pilot always this anxious?" I asked.

"No, today is a special occasion." Alcatraz replied.

* * *

><p>The shuttle flew towards the Presidium. From the flight over, I guessed that, roughly, we might have been somewhere on Zakera, near the poorer area. As the shuttle flew, I sent text messages to my group so that The wild bunch couldn't hear us.<p>

**Ladies and Gentleman. What did you steal?** I asked.

**Nothing...** replied Elizabeth.

**Bullshit. Team, any stolen material is to be returned to these guys the moment this ends. **I demanded.

**:(** Said Elizabeth. **Surely they wont miss it?**

**Were better than this. Not by much but... We're not stealing from temporary allies how are doing good work.** I said.

**Alex, We need to sort out if we are getting paid, or we'll have to go to plan b **Said Frank

**We aren't robbing a bank. You ask about payment, but play it cool. These guys Loathe mercs. **I replied.

**Kay. **Frank Replied.

I stopped messaging. I turned to the nearest member of the wild bunch besides me.

"So, what's your name?" I asked to the ODST look alike.

"Don't tell him your real name Rookie." Said Alcatraz.

_A ODST named the Rookie? Now this is getting strangely meta._

"So...Rookie. You usually work with people you kidnap?" I asked.

"No. Usually we just leave them for C-Sec to arrest." He replied.

"Really? Because for all they know your the ones that killed Bryce and his mercs. Not us. We're a semi legal merc group, not a bunch of vigilantes." I replied.

"I'm sure anyone ever found out who and where we were C-Sec are still the least of our problems." Replied Rookie.

I decided to change the topic.

"So... Where you guys from? Most of you sound Canadian." I asked.

"Yeah. We're from the great white north." Replied Rookie.

"What year?" I asked.

"Excuse me?" Asked Alcatraz shocked.

"What year were you born?" I asked, slightly confused at his shock.

"Oh... Um... 2164." Replied Rookie.

"Really? What happened that year?" I asked, wondering why he had to think about his birth date.

"I don't know, I was born in BC, Canada, not a metropolis like Vancouver." Replied Rookie.

"Really? Cause everyone remembers the 17 hour war between the Citadel Colossus's and the Thessian Titans." I asked.

"Oh yeah. That. Football fans..." Said Rookie.

"Biotic Olympics." I reminded.

"Yeah. That, fans are crazy." Said Rookie before giving a awkward laugh.

"Right." I said sarcastically.

"All right Mr Historian. When were you born?" Asked Alcatraz.

"1989." I replied Bluntly.

"Wha..What?" Asked Alcatraz incredulously. Frank and Elizabeth looked at me like they were about to kill me.

"I'm joking. 2158." I said.

"Oh. A year after the first contact war?" Asked Alcatraz.

"I was one of the first of a generation. For us, the entire galaxy was our playground. We were born into a society that had discovered Aliens. That had access to the heart of galactic civilisation. I was in a nursery with 3 asari's and a turian." I monologued, making up a back story as I went along.

"Humanity was no longer alone, and I was the first of a generation to know that." I said.

"That makes you 25 doesn't it?" Asked Rookie.

"And it makes you about 19. You kids are way to young to be doing this." I said.

"What makes you any different?" Asked Alcatraz. I paused for a few seconds, surprised at the question.

"I've tried to live a normal life. I have had experiences in adulthood that don't include shooting other people." I replied.

"Huh. Have we meet before?" Asked Alcatraz.

"I don't know. The first day I arrived on the citadel I ran into a bunch of Canadian teenagers. There leader said his was called Lucas Raychivech or something." I replied.

"Nope. Not us." Said Alcatraz a little quickly.

"Oh well. Anyway, before you guys start trading numbers, I think we're almost here." Said Frank.

"Let us deal with this. We work our own way." Said Alcatraz.

"Sure. Just don't fuck up." I said.

Alcatraz nodded to his teamates. I signalled for my to check everything again. Frank and Elizabeth checked their Omni-tools. Jesse looked down her sniper rifle and Scott looked down the sights of his assault rifle. I drew my pistol and attempted to make a biotic field. I had eaten several energy bars since my run and I was full of biochemical energy. The familiar blue aura wrapped itself around my arm.

"Show time." I said.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Frank's POV<strong>_

_**.**_

I activated combat mode on my Omni-tool. The familiar options appeared. Overload, Recon drone, door hack, incinerate and manufacture Grenade. I was ready.

The shuttle hovered near a Presidium building.

I heard a very muffled but very loud "Holy Shit!" before the shuttles twin machine guns opened fire, the sound of shattered glass breaking the previous serene silence.

"Eat shit mother fuckers!" Shouted out the pilot.

I couldn't see out the front, but the shuttle lurched forward. The doors opened and the wild bunch dropped out. All but one of them were equiped for a all out assault. Alcatraz looked back into the shuttle.

"You know what you're doing here right?" He asked. We nodded in response.

"Then don't let anything change that." He said.

"What about our payments?" I asked.

"I don't care about that, just know if Tanner gets away because you got blinded by numbers, I will make you bleed." He said as he shut the door and hit it.

"I'm pretty sure if he spent less time threatening us and more time shooting this would be over." I said. Alex laughed and nodded.

The shuttle moved downwards. We were quickly on the ground.

The doors opened a second time and we climbed out. I looked towards the driver seat and said Cheers before he lifted out of sight.

"All right team. Let's get inside. Remember, we have team-mates. Use them." Said Alex before opening the door. We walked into a very open foyer. Immediately as we entered snipers opened fire from above on us.

"Shit!" Said Scott as we ran for cover.

I gave him a look of "Too right mate." We returned fire whilst Alex talked into his comms.

"Alcatraz, we just went inside. We're being pinned down by snipers upstairs." He said. I couldn't quite hear his response.

After a few seconds a door upstairs opened and a sniper bullet echoed out. With one sniper down we made a break for it. We charged across the foyer, keeping our heads down. As we got to the other side six guards poured through a door.

"Frank. Number 9!" Ordered Alex.

I unleashed a Area overload on the six of them, stripping them of any shields they had.

Scott sprayed with his assault rifle, killed two of them before the others retreated behind the door. They started blind firing behind the doorway, forcing us into cover. A nearby fountain was perfect.

Elizabeth quickly constructed a grenade and lobbed it down the hallway. A few seconds later a massive explosion followed.

We ran into the same hallway, guns ready for any survivors. Alex put a bullet through the head of a crawling solider. To our right were several doors and offices, perfect to spring a ambush. To our right was a massive window, giving a perfect view of the Presidium Lake and Bruce's Dock.

Alex's Comm sparked into life. He signalled for the rest of us to sweep the rooms.

I checked into the third door on the right. I looked inside, there was a cowering technician, his hands clasped over his ears.

"Anyone else in here!" I shouted.

The technician didn't respond. Instead a shotgun wielding solider charged from my right and slammed me into the floor. I rolled to my left just as he pulled the trigger, sending molten metal into the floor. I quickly got to my feet and kicked him in the legs. He fell to the floor. I kicked him in the side of his head, rolling him onto his back. I pulled out my own shotgun and fired a single shot into his head.

"Copy that." Said Alex loudly. "Bruce isn't here. Look around!"

"This rooms clear!" I shouted back. I walked into the hallway. Alex was about to enter the fifth room when a saw something out of the corner of my eye. I pointed the end of the corridor, seeing a short man run out of the far door. I shouted at the others to follow as we broke into a sprint to try to catch up. Alex talked again into his comms.

"Alcatraz!" He shouted.

He waited a few seconds, then spoke.

"I've just spotted Tanner at the back of this place. I think he's headed towards his boat on the Presidium's river." He said.

We ran through the door. We were about to open fire when we noticed the large group of people going about their daily business.

"Fucking tourists." I mumbled. Jesse raised her sniper into the air and fired a shoot, sending the crowd into a riot. I spotted Tanner and a few of his soldiers get into one of his yachts.

"There!" I shouted as I broke into a run. The others followed behind. I was about to open fire when they speed away. They were serving and driving between civilians on the river. _Shit._

I had an idea. I ran onto the second yacht and jumped on. Elizabeth noticed what I was doing. They ran onto the boat.

"You know how to drive these things?" She asked.

"Can't be that hard." I replied. I sat down at the controls. They were a lot like a car back on modern day earth. I pressed the on button and slammed on the ignition. We speed out of the docks and followed the chaos left by Bruce. We managed to get about 15 metres away from Bruce before he spotted what we were doing and slammed into overdrive. _Fuck._

Alex signalled to the others, and they began to take careful shoots. Problem was, with this many civilians, we couldn't spray, and the boat was very unstable, it was far too difficult to snipe.

I took a quick look behind to notice the low flying shuttle of The Wild bunch. I looked forward. I had to do something slightly more risky.

"Aim at the rotors, try to slow the bastard down!" I shouted.

"What are you going to do?" Asked Jesse.

"Ramm it." I replied Stoically. Any other day this would have been meet with derisive laughs at how stupid this was. But this bastard was our ticket to us not being executed. There was no time to argue.

Jesse changed from her sniper to her pistol as I closed the gaps between our two boats.

We were still too far. We would never catch up to them. But the wild bunch helped us save the day. They shoot down a air car right above us, sending it straight down into the river. It created a huge wave. I tried to steer away, but I wasn't fast enough, and we rode it at full speed. We flew about ten feet above the river, screaming like little girls the entire way, before crashing down directly behind Bruce's boat.

"Hell yeah!" I shouted.

"Never again!" Alex replied looking like he was about to throw up.

I slammed into Bruce's boat, knocking off two of his soliders. Alex ran towards the side and unleashed his lunch into the water.

The others waited for their guns to cool down. A few seconds later I slammed into the boat again. Before they had any time to take a shot at Bruce his boat swerve into the side of the river and crashed. I slowed down and circled back, carefully parking my boat alongside.

I ran out of the drivers seat and we jumped off the side of the boat onto the ground, landing with four slams and a light touch from a biotically slowed Alex.

I turned towards Bruce. He was slowly crawling away from the wreckage. We walked about seven feet away from him, our guns raised and aiming at his head.

"This isn't what I hired you for!" Bruce Growled.

"And we didn't become mercs to help and trafficking rapist." Said Jesse, extremely pissed off. Alex shifted on his feet slightly.

"Bullshit! You need people like me! You've gone into this work because you can't do anything else. Because you are nothing more than servants for people like me!" he yelled, trying to agitate the former Alliance troops who stood staring. "But no, you get fucking brainwashed by these shitheads!" He pointed at us waiting in the shuttle. "Going around trying to save people that don't give a fuck about what happens to them!" He breathed heavily. Staring into the eyes of Alex. "You should have done yourselves a favour and fucked off! You don't know what is going to come your way after this!" His face was pulsing red."Well? What are you waiting for!" he yelled looking at their weapons. "Go ahead! Go ahead and show the galaxy a merc group full of idiots that lost everything they've worked for to become the lowest forms of our pathetic fucking race!"

**BANG**

_Who did that?_

I looked around, and my shocked eyes fell on Scott, his pistol in his hands.

"What the." Whispered Alex as Scott walked to the barely conscious Bruce and fired another shot into him. The body slammed back into the floor, oozing blood from two different bullet holes in his head. We were all stunned, until the sounds of sirens in the distance brought us back to reality.

"Come on!" Shouted Alcatraz, waving at us to get into the shuttle.

We all looked towards it and began to jog towards the shuttle, still silent. Alex grabbed Scott's arm and almost dragged him to the shuttle. We all piled into the shuttle. The wild bunch were silent. And so to was our ride.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alex's POV<strong>_

_._

It was almost midnight when we got back. The shuttle softly landed on top of our apartment building. I was going to receive complaints about the wild bunch's funding and base the moment anyone got the balls to talk again. I was going to discuss business etiquette with Scott. This wasn't good. If they developed a conscious about who hires us we may never get a job. I would have to squash this. But I completely understood why Scott did this. But I'll deal with that later. I had to talk to the ever enigmatic Alcatraz.

"So what are you guys going to do now?" I asked as I turned to face him. We were all on roof, stretching our legs after the long ride.

"Oh I don't know; order a pizza, play a game?" Said Alcatraz as he shrugged. _They're still children. I mean, that's almost word for word what I would've done but the way he said it..._ "Honestly, shooting people on a couch with a controller sounds like a vacation to me. Oh, I nearly forgot." He reached into a pocket on his suit. He held out his hand, showing us a chit, marked with five hundred thousand credits. _How much!_ I reached out before Alcatraz suddenly moved it away.

"A word of advice. Do more research into who you're working for next time, or else you'll run into us again. I meant it when I said I never wanted to see your face again. Are we clear?" Threatened Alcatraz. _And I thought we were becoming friends. Oh well, just make sure to never take a job on the Citadel again._

"Crystal." I said as I politely took the chit. Alcatraz kept his hand out. Realising, I shook his hand.

"It's been interesting, Alcatraz." I said.

"What, not a honour?" He asked slightly confused.

"I'm not alliance any more, therefore I don't have to say bullshit like that." I replied. _Still, interesting is a understatement._

He chuckled slightly. Our two teams shook hands.

"Goodbye Dawson." Said Alcatraz.

"Goodbye Lucas." I said with a smirk.

He almost responded, his face in fear before the shuttle door closed.

"Team, shower then meeting." I said.

.

"Look, he was a bastard. He didn't deserve to live." Said Scott quickly as we sat down on the sofas.

"I agree, but please, next time wait until he's finished his purpose, and don't kill slowly. Be more surgical." I said. _This isn't over big guy, but I must continue._ "Any way, the real reason I called this was because of our payment." I explained.

"Yeah, about how we didn't get any." Said Elizabeth with a frown.

"Oh not quite." I said as I held up the Five hundred thousand credit chit. The group looked at me completely shocked. It took them a few seconds before responding.

"What will we spend it on." Asked Jesse after a while.

I moved over to our apartment window and placed a hand on it. I looked out, then looked back.

"I need a ship." I said with a smile.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Aaand that's a wrap. Next chapter, excitement, gunfire, and absolutely nothing completely shocking happens. No, nothing. Big thanks to CuHnadian for the script and the idea for the chapter, and Whoa heavy for the Idea in the first place. Enjoy my Fans, and live.<strong>_


	11. Chapter 11:

_**Mass & Energy One:**_

_**Chapter Eleven: Nothing shocking happens part one**_

_**.**_

_**Frank's POV**_

_**Two weeks later**_

_**.**_

The sunset on Illium was a weird one. Days lasted a 25 hours, but the strangest thing is the heat. The land almost boils, especially at the Equator. But that's not important right now.

What is, however, is whether we can crack this security system. A good way to test out every system is to get a master thief, and let them tell you the weaknesses. There are secondary tests however, like how well the system can stand to a more... Brute force approach.

It's just me at the moment. I was casually cracking a door open with luck and a conspicuous amount of omni gel. The guards had been instructed to take us alive, but I'm not sure if they are using live rounds. Any round, no matter how good your shield, may well be your last. But the doors in the office were easy enough to crack. It's the safe box, assuming I get there, that I'm worried about. Thing could survive a master thief, who know how much explosives it could take. But I suppose I'll be finding out soon.

As I crept through the now open door, down a dark stairwell leading ever closer to the vault, I wondered.

So far, Scott, Alex and Jesse had tried to crack the system. Each of them failed. Me and Elizabeth's were engineers though. Hacking and explosives are sort of our specialities. But if the five of us we able to work together, who knows what might happen. It would undoubtedly be soon before I break the alarm, and a shit tonne of corporate security rains down on my head. I placed another proximity flash mine against the wall. They'll still have a little trouble taking me down though.

Eventually I reached a finger print and iris coded door. Two incorrect entries would break the system, and send the guards, silently, without my knowing. Blowing up the door would set off a loud alarm, and activate a whole building lock-down. I wiped my hand against my sweating forehead. This was going to be tricky. I placed a thermite charge softly against the wall nearest the door. Too much weight on the door and the alarm would trip. Now I opened my Omni-tool, and began to crawl away. I readied my pistol in my right hand, and turn away from the door. Shit was about to light up, and it would be best if I wasn't blind. I tried to remember the quickest path to the Vault room. Past the servers, left at the water cooler, in the toilets, blow up the wall in the third cubicle and I'm in. Less then thirty seconds. I'll have about 14 seconds to open the Vault door, before the Guards catch up with me. Once at the vault door, I'll Overload the lights and use another thermite charge, blinding my hunters and hopefully causing enough damage to the Electromagnetic seal keeping and the hinges keeping the Vault door closed. Then, I'll make it up as I go along. I activated my Omni-tool and primed the charge. It wouldn't be long before the alarm sounded.

Behind their was a brilliant white light, and I heard the door swing open. Above the sound of melting metal was a high pitched alarm, signalling to me it was time to run. I jumped over the softly sizzling remains of the door and sprinted for dear life. The Alarm was getting increasingly louder.

_Past the servers._

I ran past a room filled with stacks of warm servers, no doubt carrying tonnes of sensitive information, loads of lolpyjaks pics and porn.

_Left at the water cooler._

I took a left, observing the vibrations in the water for a split second.

_In the toilets, third cubicle._

I primed a grenade in my left hand as I ran inside the toilet. The familiar beep beep beep sounded as I lobbed it against the third cubicle wall and took cover. A few seconds later, their was a explosion. As my hearing slowly returned I entered the Vault room. The timer on my HUD said 00:32 seconds. I was off schedule. As I heard the sound of shouts and stomping feet I got out my last thermite charge. I aimed my Omni-Tool in my other hand at the lights. Soon, the lights overload and I was in complete darkness. I felt around for the Vault door hinges.

_00:39_

I was almost out of time. I slammed the charge against the hinge, just as the guards found my hole in the wall. I ran to the other side of the room from them and the Vault door. I activated the primer. A few seconds later, I covered my eyes. Soon enough a bright light burned its way through the guards. Figuratively of course. Rounds started flying across the room. A few hit me in the knee.

I looked towards the Vault door.

"Oh bugger." I said aloud.

The Vault door was pristine. No visible damage.

"Give it up!" Shouted One of the guards. It was over. I had no charges left. Nothing short of a dreadnought cannon could explode that door. It must've had it's own shield generator. Clever. Perhaps a overload...

I raise my hands. There were about seven people armed personal were in the room. More were recovering from their temporary blindness.

"I surrender." I said.

A bullet pierced my shields and hit me in the foot.

"Ah fuck!" I shouted.

* * *

><p>The meeting was highly uneventful. After getting medi-gel applied to my leg, I was soon up and running again. Bullet failed to pierce any blood vessels, and would be back to normal soon. Got to love 22nd century medical tech.<p>

"And so. Elizabeth will be trying the course tomorrow. Remember, tell no one at what time you are infiltrating, and tell no one you're plan." Said Alex. He dropped the papers he was holding on the conference room desk. "We should be leaving by Friday, assuming all goes well. Just a whole group attempt and we should be golden."

"Just a question. Am I aloud gunship support?" Asked Elizabeth. Alex raised a eyebrow.

"If you can some how get a airship to help in less then twenty four hours then knock yourself out." Alex said. "If there aren't any more questions then I would very much like to get back to the bar." Said Alex. I noticed he was drinking more and more recently. He was always used to sipping a few scotch's after a hard day of not working, but he seemed to spend all of his time on a job, drinking, sleeping or planning. It wasn't healthy, and I was starting to get worried. I decided I would corner him after a few drinks and get him to talk.

He walked out of the conference room and down a flight of stairs. I followed close behind.

.

Eventually, Alex entered the eternity bar. He didn't seem to notice I was there. He seemed solely focused on getting a drink. This was not good behaviour.

Alex grabbed a stall close to the bar, and dragged it towards a asari bartender.

"What'll be?" She asked.

"Scotch on the rocks." Said Alex. I took a seat at a nearby booth and watched.

"So. Tough day?" Asked the Bartender as she returned with his drink.

"You have no idea. Had to send another one of my friends to be shot at, and the same tomorrow." Said Alex. He took a swig of his scotch, and gagged slightly.

"Doesn't sound like you enjoy your job." Said the asari.

"No. Don't get me wrong, the thrill of a fight is exhilarating, the money, whilst sparse, is good. But my friends? Every single time I'm in a fight. It completely terrifies me that one of them might get injured. God forbid if one of them got killed. These are the people I've known my entire life. They know me better then any other people in this and any universes." Explained Alex. He took another swig then ordered another scotch.

"Guilt?" Asked the bartender.

"If I lost just one of them, I'd never forgive myself. In a past life my only responsibilities were not spending too much money and occasional designated driver." Said Alex. "Now? I'm their leader. I lead them into almost certain death once on a plan that could have easily not worked and killed us all."

"Sounds rough." Said the Bartender. She was cleaning a few glasses absent mindedly. She was clearly listening to Alex's rant. It was beginning to get hard to listen. He was talking about us. He was talking about me.

"And then, there's something even worse. Their good people, my friends. They were shocked last time, when we worked for a serial rapist. And I didn't tell them. But they don't understand. We can't just keep to the morally good contractors. No good person needs a group of freelance mercs. These current guys? Well, I can't say. Contract and all. I'd need a lot more drinks before I talk about that." Said Alex.

"Bad bosses? Tell me about. Used to work for the Asari governments. Moronic bitches. You say a intelligent idea, if it needs effort, a little change of our stupid culture and Bam! You're serving drinks in a bar on Illium." Said the Bartender.

"God damn. What you'd suggest? That they stop their children whoring themselves out for a quarter of their lives? That they actually do something other then talk?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. Hey, you know that guy has been staring at you for the last five minutes. You into that?" Asked the bartender.

Alex began to turn around.

"Nah. I'm not going... Frank? What the fuck are you doing here?" Asked Alex rather angrily.

I had two options. I could either explain myself, forcing me to come up with a convincing lie.

Or I could just run away.

I choose option-B. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I ran as fast as I could back to the hotel.

* * *

><p>"Hide me!" I shouted as I charged into the hotel room.<p>

"What?" Asked Elizabeth.

"Just hide me!" I shouted. Scott opened the wardrobe in the hotel room and signalled me to jump in. I did. The doors closed behind me. I heard a presence enter the room.

"WHERE IS HE!" Asked Alex simultaneously incredibly angrily and drunkly.

"Who?" Asked Scott.

"FRANK GODDAMN GRIMES!" Alex Shouted.

"He didn't come back from the meeting. Have you seen him or something?" Asked Jesse. I heard Alex take a few deep breaths.

"All right." He said. I heard a thump as he fell on the bed.

"What is it?" Asked Jesse.

"He followed me to the bar. Interrupted my cool down time." Said Alex. Their was a awkward silence for a few seconds.

I swallowed. I was holding back a sneeze. Their was so much dust inside this closet it was unbearable.

I heard something exit the room.

I let loose my sneeze.

"That was a close one." Said Scott. He opened the wardrobe doors for me.

"You're telling me." Said Alex as he quickly re-entered the room. He signalled for me to walk with him into the hallway. I swallowed. As I followed behind him my mind began racing, attempting to explain myself. But I knew that the best thing to do would be to help Alex. He had some genuine fears, some concerns he wasn't telling us. This was getting worse and worse. Not just for him either. It'd been two weeks since Scott killed a man in cold blood. Attempting to rationalise that death would've meant rationalise the two dozen other people he may have killed. But his mind couldn't settle on the fact he was now a murderer. The man may have been a serial rapist, he may have deserved it, but he was in our and the Wild bunch's custody. That was something he couldn't ignore.

"We need to talk." Me and Alex both said at the same time.

"... Frank. What the hell were you doing there? Eavesdropping on my conversation." Said Alex. He wasn't shouting. He didn't seem angry. Just... Tired.

"Alex. You've been drinking for a while now. It's getting worse. You know, if it gets bad enough we can drop out of this business at any time." I said comfortingly.

"You think it's that easy? I'm a killer now. I've killed people. And I've done it for money! So that I can eat, so that I can have nice things, I end people's lives! I thought I could rationalise it _Oh it's just a game. Their from a game. It's not like they matter. _But I know better then that. These are people that every day go to work, that have dreams. Maybe they'll return to their families after running away. Maybe their trying put their kids through school. I could be killing someone's brother or sister. Someone's son or daughter. Someone's Father or mother!" Shouted Alex.

"Alex, we can stop. Their are other options." I repeated.

"No there aren't!" shouted Alex.

"We don't have to join Shepard. We just have to get back home. Maybe Shepard isn't the answer." I said.

"You think I want to join Shepard? You think I want to help her save the galaxy I don't even belong to? You and I both know how this ends, we aren't going to make a sack load of difference. That's big picture shit!" Shouted Alex. "I'm not a hero. None of us are. You know what I used to do before I ended up in this goddamn universe?"

I already knew what he was going to say.

"Nothing! I was going to die! I was going to spend my last two months of my life ticking off my bucket list. Then, I would have lived my life. Short and pointless. Now? That same life ending tumour is giving me Mary sue magic fucking powers of biotics. I have a career in murder. It doesn't even make any fucking sense! I'm not supposed to even be alive!" I shouted.

"Then maybe this was supposed to happen. Maybe you were supposed to live." I said.

"Then why bring you? Why drag you guys into this? And what for? Some great purpose? Perhaps you think I'm suppose to stop the Reapers? Or maybe I'm supposed to fall in love with some god-damn fictional character and live out the rest of my now long life in a fucking video game." said Alex.

"If this was supposed to happen, if some cosmic force forced me to enter this universe and live out my life alone, with only my friends for company, then they are a monster." Said Alex.

"But let's suppose there is no cosmic force? Let's suppose that for some reason, and it's not destiny, or fate, or written in some ancient scroll, we aren;t supposed to end up in here. Why the fuck do I have a biotic gland? Why can't we go back the same way? Why did we bump into Lieutenant fucking Shepard _completely at random_?" Said Alex.

"...Finished?" I asked.

"Not yet. You know what I hate the most. Every time we stop a terrorist attack on Arcturus, or lead a colonial militia, or stop a rapist brother killing CEO we could die. Boom. Game over. Bye bye, Do not pass go. Do not collect £200. I am willing to risk my life for money. I've nothing to do other wise. But you guys are free. You could go to alliance. You could redo your bar exam. Scott could retrain as a teacher. Jesse can prove she's good with numbers and become a space accountant. Elizabeth can paint with a style unique to 21st century earth and do what she loves. But what can I do? I had no qualifications, I got no marketable skills but one thing. Killing." Said Alex.

"We'd never leave you on your own." Said Frank.

"That's what I am terrified of the most. What if I'm the last to die. What if you, or any of you, take a bullet meant for me. I'd go insane. There's no reason for me to live unless I can bring you all back home. And... I can't promise I can do that any more Frank. I just... Can't promise we are all going to live." Said Alex tearfully.

"... Do you want to stop?" I asked, the words tumbling out of my mouth before I even have the time to think of what I am saying.

"...I can't." Said Alex.

"Killing is all I can do. You guys, are the only reason I haven't tested if shooting myself in the brain will send me back." Said Alex.

"Oh my... Alex. We can't keep going like this. Screw joining Shepard. Screw saving the galaxy. I'm not having you think like this." I said.

"Shepard is most likely our only way back. We have to go back!" I said.

"Alex. Perhaps it's time we..." I said.

"I Promised that I would get you back!" Shouted Alex. "And I will."

"Alex. You said it yourself. If we don't stop now, we might die. And that might not bring us back. We can't know for sure. And I thought you liked it here." I asked.

"... I do. But I don't want to be a murdering psychopath, and I don't like that you guys have to be here, when almost three years ago you had lives, dreams, plans!" Alex said.

"Alex..." I said.

"Let's talk about this later. Right now, we have a job to do. Not a word to the others Frank. Not one word." Said Alex.

"Of course, but you're going to have to tell them some time. Before someone gets hurt. Or killed." I said.

"And please. Don't go snooping around our employers. That can only end badly." Said Alex.

"I wasn't..." I said. But Alex was already walking away from the hotel room. I almost followed him, but I decided against it. I had to talk to the others.

I walked through the hotel door. Guessing by the look of things, none of them had heard Alex's ranting. I sat down on the bed.

"Frank, you need to see this too." Said Jesse. I walked over to her as she activated her omni-tool.

"I was trying to get plans of the building yesterday, for reconnaissance. I would've thought they would have better encryptions on their files, what with all the security they have, but this was hidden around just one password that was one of the employee's birthday." Said Jesse about to go into babbling mode.

"What did you find?" I asked.

"Files. More specifically, on us. Proper information to, tracking our identity's, both of them, where we've been deployed, our purchases, notes on our combat ability." She said.

"Maybe they were just doing a background check. Wanted to know we could be trusted." I said.

"Then how did they find out about our two previous identity's? Only Fist knows about that." Said Jesse.

"Then maybe they got it out of the Shadow broker?" I suggested.

"That's not all. Their were sent to somewhere else. They were sent to a company known as the Terminus mining corporation." Said Jesse.

I froze. We stopped their operation on Outreach-3. They knew who we were.

"Is that bad?" Asked Jesse.

"Very bad. They might want to kill us." I said.

I remembered that in two days we'd be pulling a joint operation against the vault to test it's security. If they wanted us gone, they choose the perfect planet to do it. Illuim's relaxed laws meant that we could disappear without a trace. And all it would take is "Accidentally" switching to live rounds.

"Where's Elizabeth?" I asked.

"She's going to do her infiltration at the crack of dawn. It's when they are least ready and would least expect it." Said Jesse, not quite putting two and two together.

"She's might be walking straight into a trap." I said.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Long time no see? Well, my six form is doing absolutely shit, so, I may have plenty of time to post moar chapters. This is just the beginning. The chapter title is not exactly appropriate for what happens next chapter.<strong>_

_**Now about this chapter. Some may say that their's to much angst. But to be honest, so far these guys have taken this farrrrr to well. I decided to show that this was a façade. They are out of their depths, and they do not enjoy killing. Will they get out of the merc business? Is this the end for Charon? Will Alex's worst nightmare be realised?**_

_**Find out next time, on Mass & Energy.**_


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